Suspicious powder found at Flaget’s SCN office building was artificial sweetener

The SCN Office Building on the campus of Flaget Memorial Hospital was locked down Thursday afternoon when a suspicious powder was found in an envelope.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

First-responders wait for the Ky. National Guard’s 41st Civil Support hazmat team to arrive to determine if the suspicious substance found in an envelope on the Flaget Hospital campus was hazardous. Click to enlarge.

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, 8:20 p.m. (Updated 10:27 p.m.) — Artificial sweetener discovered in an envelope at Flaget Memorial Hospital Thursday afternoon prompted a hazmat response that left 23 people stuck inside the SCN Office Building for 4-1/2 hours until the white, powdery substance could be identified.

Bardstown Police, the Bardstown Fire Department and Nelson County EMS were alerted of a possible hazmat incident at 3:35 p.m. Thursday affecting the hospital’s recently completed SCN Office Building. As a precautionary measure, the building was sealed and the 23 people inside were not allowed to leave until the substance could be test to determine if it was indeed a hazard.

The incident did not affect the operation of the main hospital building.

The Kentucky National Guard’s 41st Civil Support Team was requested to respond from Frankfort with equipment to test the material, and arrived on scene at about 6:30 p.m. The hazmat team determined the material an artificial sweetener. After a short debriefing, all first-responders cleared the scene by 8:30 p.m.

If the material had been deemed a hazard, the people inside the building may have been required to undergo decontamination procedures at the hospital, depending on the type of hazard the material presented.

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