October 28, 2008

UVA says the suspicious letter found Tuesday at the Environment Building came back "negative". The letter was taken to a lab. There was no visible powder, and no threat. Employees were able to return back to building at 8pm last night.

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A suspicious envelope causes faculty and staff to evacuate University of Virginia’s Environment Health and Safety building Tuesday afternoon.

“What was written on the envelope lead the person who was sorting the mail to say this doesn't look quite right we ought to check this out,” said Carol Wood, UVa Spokesperson.

According to Wood after taking a closer look at the envelope, the mail sorter immediately alerted officials at Environmental Health and Safety.

The building was evacuated and HAZMAT crews were called in.

Wood says they take every incident seriously and are doing everything to make sure the students, faculty and staff are safe.

“Given the circumstances we always take the greatest precaution for the safety of our students, staff and faculty and there’s no messing around with anything. You go to the worse case and usually, luckily it’s not anything bad but you have to take all precautions necessary,” said Wood.

UVa has even called on the state police for extra help.

“The letter is here and we're waiting for the state police to come with their x-ray equipment to determine whether there really is something in the letter or not,” said Wood.

Officials say it is unknown where the letter came from or who it was addressed to.

The city of Charlottesville, UVa, and state police all had crews on scene.

No injuries were reported in Tuesday incident.

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The Environmental Sciences Building at the University of Virginia has been evacuated because of a Hazardous Materials scare.

According to a University spokesperson, a suspicious letter arrived in the mailing department. The letter was suspicious because of the writing on the envelope. The letter has not been opened.

It is not known where the letter came from or who it was addressed to.

Police, fire and HAZMAT crews were called to the scene and the building was evacuated.

State police are en route to x-ray the letter and figure out what is inside.

There have been no reports of injuries.