By Della Hasselle, Ben Fractenberg and Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Staff
MIDTOWN — Hazardous-material teams evacuated 75 people from the midtown offices of one of the city’s largest health insurers Thursday after a woman discovered suspicious white powder inside an envelope, witnesses and fire officials said.
Employees on the third floor of 441 Ninth Ave., the offices of Emblem Health, were evacuated from the building after 11:30 a.m., when a mailroom staffer came into contact with the mysterious powder, fire officials said. Emblem Health is the umbrella company that oversees insurance plans including the Health Plan of New York (HIP) and Group Health Incorporated (GHI).
A fire department spokesman confirmed Haz-Mat decontaminated one patient before transporting them to Bellevue Hospital in good condition. The 75 people evacuated from the building did not come into contact with the substance, the spokesman said.
The white powder was determined to be “harmless,” according to Emblem Health spokeswoman Ilene Margolin. Employees were cleared to re-enter the third floor after 1:30 p.m.
“I guess it’s just more of a precaution. They want to make sure that we’re safe,” said Gilbert Torres, 34, who works on the third floor.
Coworkers identified the woman taken to the hospital as Madeleine Sierra, and said she had worked for the company for more than two decades.
Employees also said the same floor had to be evacuated this time last year, after an employee discovered an envelope filled with white powder. They said they were not given any information about who sent that prior envelope.
“This has happened before,” said Willie Fiallo, 58 a chief steward for Local Union 153, OPIU. “I don’t know if this is anthrax or not, but it’s not a joke, it’s dangerous, if it is,” said Willie Fiallo, 58, chief union steward for Local 153, OPIU.
An Emblem Health spokeswoman said she was not aware of a prior incident.
