Envelopes with white powder sent to Northwest federal buildings

Mailroom employees in at least four federal buildings in Washington and Idaho opened envelopes Monday that contained a suspicious white powder.

An office in Bellevue was evacuated, while a mailroom was quarantined at the federal courthouse in Seattle, although court hearings went on as usual.

Investigators determined the white powder is some kind of bleach compound.

In Bellevue, firefighters evacuated an Internal Revenue Service office at 520 112th Ave. N.E., next door to Bellevue City Hall, shortly after a female employee opened an envelope with white powder around 12:30 p.m., said Lt. Eric Keenan. A small amount of powder dispersed into the air, and the woman "dropped it and ran," he said.

The woman was the only person directly exposed to the powder, Keenan said. She and a co-worker who was nearby were taken to Overlake Hospital Medical Center as a precaution, though neither complained of any symptoms, he said.

The building was evacuated and a hazardous-materials team was called in.

"They're getting suited up right now" to retrieve the letter and a sample of the powder, Keenan said at 3 p.m. But it could take time to determine what the powder is, because it will be sent to the State Patrol Crime Lab for analysis, he said.

Special Agent Frederick Gutt of the FBI field office in Seattle said other envelopes containing powder were sent to the U.S. courthouse in Seattle, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise, Idaho, and the FBI building in Spokane. He added there are other "possible mailings in the region" and they are "presumably related."

The FBI and U.S. Postal Service, along with other federal agencies, are investigating, Gutt said.

At the federal courthouse in Seattle, it was business as usual Monday, though the basement mailroom was quarantined, said supervisory deputy Rick Ploof with the U.S. Marshals Service.

"None of our regular operations were affected," and court hearings continued as scheduled, Ploof said.

Two employees were exposed to the powder, but neither was hurt.

The envelope sent to the courthouse did not include a threatening letter or any sort of communication, Ploof said, "just a white powder substance."

Seattle Times staff reporter Sara Jean Green contributed

to this report