Stevens Hall, Staff Members Safe Following Hazmat Investigation

Mar. 03, 2011

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@zo23.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Stevens Hall and three UNA staff members have been decontaminated and cleared following an investigation of a suspicious substance found in the building this afternoon. The origination of the substance is still being investigated. UNA Police were notified this afternoon of a threatening letter addressed to a UNA faculty member and containing a suspicious substance that was delivered to the fifth floor of Stevens Hall. The building was quickly cleared, ventilation systems shut down and the campus community notified of the situation via the university's Lion Alert system. Three staff members were held for decontamination. The UNA Police have worked on the case in cooperation with Colbert County Hazmat, the Florence Police Department, the Florence Fire Department, the FBI, the county EMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Alabama Department of Public Health. The letter and envelope containing the suspicious substance are being sent to a forensic lab for further investigation. UNA Police continue to investigate the origination of the letter and substance. "The UNA Police and other local and state officials are to be commended for their swiftness of response this afternoon to keep this campus a safe place. Safety for everyone at UNA is of highest priority for us," said Dr. William G. Cale Jr., UNA president. While cleared, Stevens Hall remains closed this evening and will reopen for regular activities tomorrow morning at 8.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: zo23.com and zo23.com/unaworks/.