No clues in post office chemical scare

20 go to hospital for treatment

SHARPSBURG – The discharge of a chemical inside the Sharpsburg Post Office caused several people to become ill Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities will continue to investigate after hours of decontaminating emergency responders and people who were in the post office.

Sharpsburg Police Chief B.C. Bissette said all tests conducted by local and state hazmat teams came back negative for any type of chemical exposure after operations wrapped up at 7:30 p.m.

"All checks showed that there was nothing but clean air," Bissette said.

Emergency personnel from Nash, Wilson and Edgecombe counties responded to the post office building off U.S. 301 at 1:45 p.m. after receiving reports of a woman suffering from breathing difficulties.

Bissette said some type of irritant was released either "accidentally or inadvertently."

Both lanes of U.S. 301 in front of the post office were shut down by police. The roadway remained closed until after 6 p.m., when authorities began clearing the scene.

Ten people – including some of the first responders – were treated at a field decontamination tent and were to be transported to Nash General Hospital.

The hospital received 20 patients for treatment by mid-afternoon.

The first eight patients were transported to the hospital by ambulance and began receiving treatment just before 3:30 p.m. Nearly 30 minutes later the hospital received word that another 12 people would be coming from the post office on bus, said Jeff Hedgepeth director of communications for Nash Health Care.

The hospital initiated a code orange, which deals with hazmat issues, Hedgepeth said. An area outside of the emergency room was closed off to decontaminate and treat individuals who were affected.

Officers who initially arrived at the scene said the people inside the post office appeared to have been exposed to a chemical similar to pepper spray.

Police also speculated that the chemical could have been shipped to a post office box and began leaking, or that a combination of cleaning products had become mixed together resulting in toxic fumes.

Authorities later ruled out a link between the chemical discharge and the mail service, finding no contaminants present after conducting a physical search of the post office after 6 p.m.

"Hazmat officials on scene feel that this incident may be the result of an inadvertent chemical exposure, which was acute in nature and dissipated prior to our detection efforts," Bissette later said in a news release Wednesday evening.

An onlooker at the scene said that he experienced watery eyes and severe coughing after he went into the post office Tuesday.

Bissette said he has received reports of similar instances that occurred Tuesday, and police will continue to investigate those claims today.

"There were some people that said they noticed a strange odor Tuesday," he said.

In addition, authorities are looking into a possible connection between the chemical discharge and a report of vandalism that occurred at the post office late Tuesday night.

Bissette said police received reports of trash cans being overturned.

The incident is being reviewed by the Sharpsburg Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service, he added.

Authorities are advising people who were in the Sharpsburg Post Office after 1 p.m. and have concerns about possible exposure to report to the Nash General Hospital emergency room for evaluation.

Residents decontaminated at the scene who need to retrieve personal property can claim it from the Sharpsburg Police Department during normal business hours, Bissette added.