The Franklin County Government Center, Assessor’s Office, was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon after receiving a suspicious letter that contained a white powdery substance.

In an official statement from Union Police Chief Norman Brune, “On Jan. 28, in the late afternoon, the Union Police Department received a call from the Franklin County Assessor’s Office. They received an envelope which contained a powdery substance, most of which was contained in a very small Ziploc baggie. They immediately took precautions to prevent any contamination from spreading and the building was locked down.

The envelope contained a declaration page from the Assessor’s Office. The baggie was inside the declaration page. The page was that of a Pacific resident. Pacific police went to the residence and the subject, whose name was on the page, was contacted. A phone line was established between Union police and the subject.

Union police learned from the subject that the substance was probably a controlled substance that mistakenly ended up in the envelope that was sent to the Assessor’s Office. According to the subject, no threat of any kind was intended. In essence, someone hid the bag of drugs in the envelope without the subject’s knowledge, and the envelope was subsequently mailed with the drugs inside.

Union Fire and the Franklin County Hazmat team responded to the government center and secured the envelope and substance.

According to Brune, this was determined to not be a credible threat. Personnel from the Franklin County Government Center were released from the lockdown, with no reported problems.