Almost 30 schools in the Washington DC area received malicious letters on Thursday, letters that were found to contain a white powdery substance.

The FBI are now investigating the letters, which originated in the Dallas area and have been linked to similar “hoax” mailings set to DC-area schools in Octomber last year.

In a statement, the FBI said on Friday that no illnesses or injuries have been reported as a result of the letters, with the materials themselves now being tested by experts at the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, after initial tests revealed no toxins.

Speaking last week, just two days before the letters were discovered, postal inspectors said there has been a large increase in the number of hoax mailings since anthrax was first discovered in mail in 2001.

Addressing the National Postal Forum in San Diego, deputy chief inspectors Randy Miskanic and Shawn Tiller said it was “extremely unlikely” that suspicious mailings would actually contain harmful substances. There have been cases where sugar spilled by staff taking coffee breaks into a mailtray has been enough to cause widespread panic within a corporate mailroom, they warned.

The USPIS has developed a “Safe and Sane” approach over the past few months that lays out the best way for mailroom staff to respond to suspicious mail.

Miskanic said: “Hoax mailings often result in the evacuation of buildings and ties up emergency resources – and can mean seriously damaging public relations for a company, which is exactly what the hoaxer intends.

“But, there are thousands of everyday spills of things like sugar or baking powder that can have the same effect. The Postal Inspection Service has developed a ‘Safe and Sane’ response plan for mailrooms that can ease employee concerns and disruptions,” said the deputy chief inspector.

Safe and Sane

Developed with the US Centers for Disease Control, Safe and Sane preaches a calm, considered approach to threats based on apparent risk levels.

Staff are instructed how to spot the obvious signs of malicious letters or packages – like excess postage, large amounts of reinforcing tape, badly-written or misspelled addresses and no return addresses. Initially, staff would isolate the letter or package and wash their hands before alerting a supervisor.

Then, if there have been no signs of medical distress from those in the vicinity of the suspicious mail, a supervisor is encouraged to make a call to the sender of a package if known, which could clear up concerns, before a call to a local specialist Postal Inspector unit, or if not available locally, the non-emergency number of local law enforcement.

If there are signs of immediate distress, or if a package is smoking, the advice is to evacuate the building and call the 911 emergency number.

As part of its approach, the Postal Inspection Service has produced videos, posters and materials for organisations to draw up their own specific, local Safe and Sane response plans.

“Understand what the risks are that somebody would be sending something malicious through the mail,” advised Miskanic, although he warned that for companies most concerned about the risks, introducing screening technology can sometimes produce false positives.

Speaking to Post&Parcel last week, Miskanic said it was “extremely rare” that suspicious substances in the US mail turned out to be harmful. “We haven’t had anything since the riacin mailings in 2004,” he said. “We’ve responded to about 4,000 reports of suspicious mailings, but most of them have turned out to be nothing.”

Source: James Cartledge, Post&Parcel

Tags: Safety, Security, US Postal Inspection Service, USA