A medical manufacturing facility in North Canaan was closed on Friday after a potential hazmat situation on Thursday when a suspicious package made it into the building.
Just before 9 a.m. Thursday, a suspicious package made it into Becton Dickenson on Grace Way, a company that makes disposable syringes. and two employees who opened it were taken to the hospital as a precaution, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
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WATCH HEREThey have since been released.
More than 300 employees who were at work at the time went through a decontamination process including showers, and had to leave their clothing and phones behind to be tested.
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SIGN UP Those employees were sent home in Tyvek suits with only their car keys, officials said.
“We don’t want anyone to potentially take home a contaminant. Everyone’s been understanding so far. They understand we’re doing it for their well-being and mostly for their families,” Ken LeClerc, of DEEP, said.
DEEP notified the FBI about the package and it was sent to the state lab to be analyzed. The results are expected in three to four days.
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"The safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority. We are working closely with law enforcement and emergency personnel to thoroughly investigate the situation, and we are following their protocols," a spokesperson for the medical manufacturing said.
DEEP said they are working closely with local emergency responders, the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, local health officials and other state and federal authorities.
The package was deemed suspicious because the item inside was not something that would normally be sent to that facility, according to emergency officials.
“Package came in with an unusual mail address and instantly realized when it was opened it was not a package that was supposed to come to this facility," LeClerc said.
"Due to the nature of the incident and in consultation with the FBI and CSP, a coordinated threat assessment was conducted, and the level of response was deemed necessary to ensure public safety. A private contractor was brought in to support large-scale decontamination operations. Roughly 300–350 employees were decontaminated onsite and provided Tyvek suits to return home," DEEP said in a statement on Friday.
The facility is expected to be closed for several days until the samples come back.
