FORT MITCHELL — It met all the characteristics.

        The box smelled funny. It leaked a white powder. The recipient couldn't be located.

        Afraid the package contained a biological agent, officials evacuated a college dormitory. Hazardous material crews arrived, wearing decontamination suits.

Hugging a co-worker relieves stress, forum participants were told. IRS nurse Carol Buechel (center) hugs Ralph Laird, a Crestview Hills city employee. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The contents of the suspicious box: a teen-age boy's odoriferous sneakers and baking soda.

        Veteran Postal Inspector Don Filer described examples of threats he has come across during his 28 years with the U.S. Postal Service while addressing more than 70 businesspeople Thursday. The forum, “Avoiding the Threat of Anthrax in Your Workplace,” was organized by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

        “Just because you have a package that meets all the criteria as being suspicious, it doesn't mean it is necessarily dangerous,” said Mr. Filer. “There is usually a logical explanation for any suspicious package. And that explanation can be found by making a few phone calls and asking the right questions.”

        Mr. Filer said most of his time is spent investigating narcotics sent through the mail.

        “When I used to get a call about a package spilling white powder, I used to assume it was cocaine,” said Mr. Filer. “How times have changed.”

        During fiscal years 1999 and 2000, there were about 178 anthrax threats received at courthouses, abortion clinics, churches, schools and post officers nationwide, according to the post office.

        Mr. Filer urged the crowd — from Internal Revenue Service staff nurses to CitiFinancial officials — to try to assess the threat of a suspicious letter before calling police.

        He said businesses can call the postal police in Cincinnati about suspicious packages. The post office has detailed precautions businesses can take to protect employees. The information, including a six-minute video, can be downloaded at www.uspostoffice.com.

        Procter & Gamble Co. asked its retail customers in late October not to send samples of powder detergents through the mail.

        P&G was contacted two weeks ago after some detergent spilled at a Florida post office, spokeswoman Molly Humbert said.

        “There's a high level of concern, and we want to avoid unnecessary alarm,” she said.

        Cincinnati postal inspectors have collected so many suspicious letters since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that they have quit opening and testing the contents. Mr. Filer said if no one gets sick after 60 days, the letters are destroyed. He said the only lab in Ohio with the capability of testing the letters is overwhelmed with work.

        Magazine publishers, including Conde Nast and Reader's Digest, have said they will quit dusting their publications with cornstarch to help prevent pages from sticking together, Mr. Filer said.

        Retailers and reader around the world began calling police after noticing powder on their favorite periodicals.

        “Apparently, printers have used for years powder to absorb the ink,” Mr. Filer said. “No one seemed to notice until after Sept. 11.”

        Enquirer reporter Cliff Peale contributed.
       

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