Downtown building evacuated after powder discovered

A white, powdery substance found on the 12th floor of a state government building in downtown Atlanta was not biological or chemical in nature, fire officials said.

An envelope containing powder was discovered in the James H. Sloppy Floyd Building shortly before 4 p.m., Katy Pando, spokeswoman for the Georgia Building Authority, told the AJC.

Two people were transported to the hospital as a precaution, but no one was ill following the discovery of the powder in the Department of Corrections.

A minimal amount of powder was found, according to Atlanta fire deputy chief Chris Wessels. There was not enough of the substance to identify at the scene, and the sample will be sent to the FBI crime lab, Wessels said.

“If it was a biological agent, you wouldn’t have symptoms so quickly,” Wessels said.

The west tower of the Sloppy Floyd Building, located at 200 Piedmont Avenue, was evacuated, Pando said. Other buildings in the area, such as the nearby State Capitol, were not affected, she said.

Four people who came in the contact with the substance were temporarily isolated and evaluated, Atlanta police spokeswoman Kimberly Maggart told the AJC.

Several government agencies are located in the building, Pando said. The Elections Division of the Georgia Secretary of State's office is housed in the building, forcing some calls to be diverted to an office at the Capitol, a spokesman told the AJC.

"There will be no change in reporting election results," Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Secretary of State Brian Kemp, told the AJC.

The Office of Treasury, the Department of Risk Management and the Georgia Building Authority are also located on the 12th floor.

Piedmont Avenue was shut down from MLK to Decatur Street in downtown Atlanta, police said.

The building was expected to re-open around 6:30 p.m., Wessels said.