Investigators won’t know until Wednesday whether the black powdery substance found at the Mutual Security Credit Union was something dangerous.
The emergency call Monday brought out local and federal investigators and led to a search by hazardous-materials teams in full suits and face masks.
Shelton police responded to the scene, at 12 Progress Drive, shortly before 4 p.m. on a call of a suspicious black powder found in an envelope. Sgt. Kevin Ahern said one of the workers in the office building found the substance in the mail.
Ahern said the Shelton Police Department called the FBI immediately, under procedure for any potential terrorist threat or threat to a financial institution. The credit union headquarters doesn’t take in cash, Ahern said, but does process checks.
The FBI called in Stamford Police Department’s haz-mat team to lead the search for the substance.
Monday afternoon, in 90-degree heat, several men from Stamford and Derby’s haz-mat divisions put on the body suits. Other volunteers taped the legs and arms of their suits to make sure no air or substance could get in.
The teams spent a little less than a half hour in the building, and returned with the substance in their containers. After putting the containers into a red plastic bag, other volunteers in haz-mat suits vacuumed and then sprayed off the men who had gone into the building.
While this was going on, about 35 evacuated workers at Mutual Security Credit Union waited outside the building.
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Ullrich said the FBI is sending the powder to a lab to find out what it is. He expects results back on Wednesday.
No one reported injuries at the scene.
