Unidentified Powder Found in Science Center, Testing of Substance May Take Weeks

A powdery substance was discovered in the Science Center at approximately 3:27 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Harvard University Police Department log.

The Cambridge Fire Department was called to remove the substance for analysis.

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano did not provide further information about where the substance was found because the incident remains under investigation.

“The substance is in the custody of the CFD to be tested,” Catalano wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson. “Until those tests come back we can’t confirm what the substance was or was not.”

According to John B. Mathers, assistant director of the Science Center, whenever anyone finds a suspicious package of a similar nature, the individual is encouraged to alert the police department.

The police then deem whether the substance is “suspicious” and refer the case to the fire department’s hazardous substance team for removal, Mathers said.

In this particular incident, HUPD identified the substance as a “suspicious package” and called the Cambridge Fire Department, who will see to its testing.

This kind of testing can take several weeks.

Louis Albanese, a business development manager for a laboratory testing company unrelated to the case, explained that his company has a minimum 10-day turnaround for routine chemical testing.

Exova, which has contracts with fire departments in its vicinity, may even take up to two to three weeks for investigating an unknown substance, Albanese said.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.