Lab tests — erroneously attributed to a Centers for Disease Control laboratory — determined the suspicious dust that prompted the evacuation of Fort Stewart’s education center turned out to be baby powder.
Army investigators determined the baby powder was part of an adult student’s class project, mistakenly left behind Thursday after the class.
The powder was discovered inside Fort Stewart’s adult education center, where people attending classes were evacuated after authorities deemed the powder a suspicious substance.
Five people who discovered the envelope had to submit to a decontamination process and an evaluation by a doctor. They were kept for a brief time for observation at Fort Stewart’s Winn Army Community Hospital before being released, a spokesman said. Army officials have their names and contact information on file.
Though the powder proved to be harmless, Fort Stewart said in a news release that “installation emergency personnel responded appropriately to the incident to ensure the safety of the people in the education center.”
The classroom building, outside the Army post’s main gate, is accessible to the general public and is used by soldiers and civilians for college classes, job training and other coursework.
Although a Fort Stewart spokesman said tests at the Waycross laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the substance as baby powder, the Georgia Public Health Division has a regional laboratory in Waycross prepared to do emergency analysis like this one. The CDC has no facility in Waycross.
Although deemed to be baby powder, the substance was described as a small amount of gritty dust” by Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield emergency personnel — and “was not powdery.”
“I’m relieved that everything is okay. I was a little concerned about the way it was handled in the end. If it had been anthrax, I wouldn’t have been comfortable with them sending everyone (in the building) home without getting their names and information,” said Frenchi Jones, who was in the center at the time of the lockdown.
Jones also said she believes the incident served as a good wake-up call and hopes emergency responders will use what they learned from it in future training exercises to prepare for such situations.
Jones also said she had felt living on post meant she was safe but has now come to a new realization.
“It’s not the case. If you really think about it, if someone wanted to come after us (Americans), this would be the place,” she said.
She also contends security at the education center should be tightened.
“Anybody can go in there,” she said.
Editor Sonya Campbell-Kurth contributed to this story.job training and other coursework.
Although a Fort Stewart spokesman said tests at the Waycross laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the substance as baby powder, the Georgia Public Health Division has a regional laboratory in Waycross prepared to do emergency analysis like this one. The CDC has no facility in Waycross.
Although deemed to be baby powder, the substance was described as a small amount of gritty dust” by Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield emergency personnel — and “was not powdery.”
“I’m relieved that everything is okay. I was a little concerned about the way it was handled in the end. If it had been anthrax, I wouldn’t have been comfortable with them sending everyone (in the building) home without getting their names and information,” said Frenchi Jones, who was in the center at the time of the lockdown.
Jones also said she believes the incident served as a good wake-up call and hopes emergency responders will use what they learned from it in future training exercises to prepare for such situations.
Jones also said she had felt living on post meant she was safe but has now come to a new realization.
“It’s not the case. If you really think about it, if someone wanted to come after us (Americans), this would be the place,” she said.
She also contends security at the education center should be tightened.
“Anybody can go in there,” she said.
Editor Sonya Campbell-Kurth contributed to this story.
Army investigators determined the baby powder was part of an adult student’s class project, mistakenly left behind Thursday after the class.
The powder was discovered inside Fort Stewart’s adult education center, where people attending classes were evacuated after authorities deemed the powder a suspicious substance.
Five people who discovered the envelope had to submit to a decontamination process and an evaluation by a doctor. They were kept for a brief time for observation at Fort Stewart’s Winn Army Community Hospital before being released, a spokesman said. Army officials have their names and contact information on file.
Though the powder proved to be harmless, Fort Stewart said in a news release that “installation emergency personnel responded appropriately to the incident to ensure the safety of the people in the education center.”
The classroom building, outside the Army post’s main gate, is accessible to the general public and is used by soldiers and civilians for college classes, job training and other coursework.
Although a Fort Stewart spokesman said tests at the Waycross laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the substance as baby powder, the Georgia Public Health Division has a regional laboratory in Waycross prepared to do emergency analysis like this one. The CDC has no facility in Waycross.
Although deemed to be baby powder, the substance was described as a small amount of gritty dust” by Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield emergency personnel — and “was not powdery.”
“I’m relieved that everything is okay. I was a little concerned about the way it was handled in the end. If it had been anthrax, I wouldn’t have been comfortable with them sending everyone (in the building) home without getting their names and information,” said Frenchi Jones, who was in the center at the time of the lockdown.
Jones also said she believes the incident served as a good wake-up call and hopes emergency responders will use what they learned from it in future training exercises to prepare for such situations.
Jones also said she had felt living on post meant she was safe but has now come to a new realization.
“It’s not the case. If you really think about it, if someone wanted to come after us (Americans), this would be the place,” she said.
She also contends security at the education center should be tightened.
“Anybody can go in there,” she said.
Editor Sonya Campbell-Kurth contributed to this story.job training and other coursework.
Although a Fort Stewart spokesman said tests at the Waycross laboratory of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the substance as baby powder, the Georgia Public Health Division has a regional laboratory in Waycross prepared to do emergency analysis like this one. The CDC has no facility in Waycross.
Although deemed to be baby powder, the substance was described as a small amount of gritty dust” by Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield emergency personnel — and “was not powdery.”
“I’m relieved that everything is okay. I was a little concerned about the way it was handled in the end. If it had been anthrax, I wouldn’t have been comfortable with them sending everyone (in the building) home without getting their names and information,” said Frenchi Jones, who was in the center at the time of the lockdown.
Jones also said she believes the incident served as a good wake-up call and hopes emergency responders will use what they learned from it in future training exercises to prepare for such situations.
Jones also said she had felt living on post meant she was safe but has now come to a new realization.
“It’s not the case. If you really think about it, if someone wanted to come after us (Americans), this would be the place,” she said.
She also contends security at the education center should be tightened.
“Anybody can go in there,” she said.
Editor Sonya Campbell-Kurth contributed to this story.