Parcel triggers postal alarm

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

By the time officials figured out that it was safe, the mildly radioactive package tossed around the airport post office for two days had generated quite a bit of heat.

A Charley's Taxi & Tours driver leaves the airport customs office yesterday and heads toward his cab to deliver a parcel that set off a postal service sensor when it arrived on Wednesday from Japan. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Tripler spokeswoman Margaret Tippy said the outside of the package was swiped and analyzed.

The package was found to contain exterior boat paint powder containing isotopes of lead, a naturally occurring radioactive material, Tippy said.

The package went back to postal authorities, who deflected it again to U.S. Customs.

"It's not mail," said Glen Sakagawa, district manager of the postal service's airport office. "It is in customs. They are disposing of it."

The Fire Department hazardous materials team was called at 10:21 a.m. yesterday for further precautionary tests, said Capt. Richard Soo, fire department spokesman. The team measured its radioactivity at 1.5 millirads, too low for concern.

The package, addressed to a Honolulu recipient, turned out to contain an additive for marine paint, Soo said.

The addressee was called; a taxi driver arrived and carried off the package about noon, he said.

"It was safe for the addressee to pick up," Soo said. "It was also safe for our workers and the post office to be around."

It qualified as a special delivery, all the same.

Correction: A mildly radioactive package was not taken to Tripler Army Medical Center for testing last week. The chief of Tripler’s health physics section took a swipe of the package and took that back to Tripler for analyzing. A previous version of this story was not clear.