Published: July 02, 2008 11:22 pm            

McCreary prison workers released from hospital

Investigation of incident turned over to penitentiary

A third test to determine whether a substance found Tuesday at the United States Penitentiary in McCreary County was toxic was completed early Wednesday morning in Frankfort — and results confirmed what previous tests had indicated: the substance was not toxic.

Twelve employees of the penitentiary were decontaminated, and two of those 12 were hospitalized at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset after they were exposed to the white powdery substance in the mailroom of the facility.

By Wednesday afternoon, the two employees had been released from the hospital. Kentucky Division of Emergency Management public information officer Buddy Rogers said both were doing “fine” and had experienced no other symptoms other than the initial shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. Some officials speculated that their symptoms could have been caused by stress or heat.

Rogers said the incident has now been turned over to the penitentiary. There was no spokesperson available at the McCreary County facility yesterday afternoon.

The powdery substance was found in an envelope which had been addressed to a former inmate of the penitentiary.

There was some speculation that the substance could have been ricin, a poison which can be fatal if inhaled, ingested, or injected. However, no officials confirmed to the Commonwealth Journal that ricin was the suspected substance.

Samples of the substance were flown from McCreary County to the Public Health Laboratory in Frankfort for identification. A series of several tests — with the exception of one field test performed at the McCreary County site — produced negative results for the presence of toxins.

Apparently, the identity of the substance remains a mystery. Rogers said Tuesday night that investigators may never know what the substance was.

        

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