White Powder Found at ESPN Headquarters Mail Facility; Determined Harmless

Within the last hour, news has surfaced that a suspicious white powder has been found in three packages in the mail room of ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.

Upon discovery of the powder, ESPN employees who had come in contact with it were immediately “decontaminated” but no immediate reports of injuries or other harm to employees have been reported.

Just last week, white powders were also sent to several Bristol-area schools with accompanying notes that “al-Qaida is back.”

ESPN’s Public Relations department noted that there was no concern in Bristol, and that the powder had been tested and local officials were not concerned about any danger associated with the powder discovered.

ESPN also noted that mail room operations were back in working order, and all employees tested were fine.

Regardless of the fact this case turned out to be harmless and was just drywall powder, ESPN did the right thing by immediately assuming the powder was dangerous and treating each employee as if they had been contaminated and could be in risk of physical harm.

Due to past scares with anthrax and other materials, organizations can no longer afford to take a passive approach toward foreign materials that enter a workplace, no matter how they get there.

This situation was handled correctly and everyone will move on unharmed.

We can only hope this is always the case.

—

Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports. If you enjoy his takes, you can follow Kris on Twitter, check out his personal Facebook page, or stop by his personal Tumblr page.