Hazardous-materials crews scrambled to the Social Security administration building in Kearny Mesa Thursday to investigate reports of some type of white powder in an envelope opened by an employee.
The suspicious powder turned out to be powder used by the Social Security office on mass mailings and was not found on incoming mail.
Update: Some commenters thought it was mysterious that harmless white powder might be found in a batch of printed material. Not me. Job one for an attorney who represents Social Security claimants is to prove that my client is unable to perform the work he or she used to perform. In this capacity one learns a lot about the working conditions at many jobs. I can tell you that printing is often a dusty job. Wet ink can be sticky. It is important that newly printed items not stick together. It is also important that the ink on newly printed items not smear. Many types of printing equipment use something like talcum powder to dry the ink. The power is blown between the newly printed items to help dry the ink. This powder can be a real problem for a printer who suffers from a lung disorder such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. A malfunctioning printing machine could easily dump too much of this powder in a batch of printing as could a clumsy printer reloading a printing machine with powder.
Who puts white powder on mass mailings? If they have a supply of white powder in the mail room and use it on outgoing mail why would they be suspicious of white powder? White kind of white powder helps with mailings? And what SSA office does mass mailings anyways? I work in a field office and this is a weird explanation that makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteYep, A#1 is right on all counts. Kearny Mesa, I take it, is in Arizona. Mass mailings are sent out by contractors. White powder in an SSA office--no bells are ringing here, except some kind of cleaning powder. Boy,talk about poor reporting. This is so bad we'd almost be better off without hearing about this at all. We'll just have to wait for illumination on this one, since the rag in question is not helping us.
ReplyDeleteThat makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. What possible use could there be for white powder in mass mailings? I smell a cover-up. Or at least a very poorly investigated story.
ReplyDeleteJust looked at SD Union Trib. There is no reference I can find to this reported event. Information from anyone would be helpful. But, I can always call my friends and see what this is about. See what I can do.
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