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Only one of four early tests on a mysterious white substance found in UT's Moore-Hill dormitory Thursday has tested positive for ricin, a local medical official said Saturday.
A student discovered a white, chunky substance Thursday later thought to be ricin in a roll of quarters she was using to pay for laundry in the dorm.
Law enforcement officials could not access the first-floor laundry room until Saturday, said Mike Elliot, senior district commander of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
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On Saturday, officials removed coins and the coin mechanism from a washer and drier used by the girls and sent them to a state lab for further testing, Elliot said. The powder found in the machines was dry and granular.
The Department of State health Services has conducted two types of tests on the substance found in the girls' dorm room, Elliot said. The initial run of the first test came out positive. Two others proved inconclusive. A second type of procedure tested negative for ricin.
It is unlikely that the substance is ricin, Elliot said, because most banks roll coins mechanically and it would be difficult for someone to insert a substance during this process. Also, the powder could be one used by many banks to clean processed coins.
Elliot added he thinks the powder found may be used with coins as a disinfectant.
A sample of the suspected Ricin is being sent to a government lab in Quantico, Va., for final confirmation, FBI officials said Saturday. The FBI is conducting an investigation Saturday in the Houston area related to the Ricin discovery, said FBI spokesman Rene Salinas.
Both of the female students though to be exposed to the Ricin are out of the hospital and currently with family in Texas, said Theresa Spalding, associate director or Student Health Services. Elliot said one of them is with family in Houston.
In other developments Saturday, Police taped off a second floor Moore-Hill room. Kelly Heinbaugh, a kinesiology freshman, told the Associated Press Saturday that the suspected toxin fell on her hands after unwrapping the quarters. Heinbaugh lives in the room that was taped off, Moore-Hill number 271, along with unspecified business sophomore Casi Adams.
Calls made to the dorm room and Heinbaugh's cell phone have not been returned.
The University is working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force along with other local law enforcement agencies, according to a Saturday UT press release.
Students began evacuating Moore-Hill shortly after 11 p.m. Friday when University Residence Hall resident assistants began knocking door-to-door evacuating residents. The evacuation came more than 24 hours after the substance was first discovered, and was delayed in part to wait for early test results.
According to authorities, no students are exhibiting symptoms of exposure to ricin, which has been used as a biological warfare agent.
"There is no threat coming from this," Spalding said. "The authorities do not believe there is any type of terroristic plot against the University of Texas."
Moore-Hill is now a crime scene and a criminal investigation is under way, said Dr. Adolfo Valadez, medical director of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department.
The suspected toxin was first discovered around 2:30 p.m. Thursday when one of the students who was suspected of exposure discovered the powder after opening a roll of quarters from a non-local bank to do laundry on the first floor, Spalding said. The quarters had been in her dorm room on the second floor for several months, Spalding said.
The powder fell out on the student's hands, which she washed immediately before reporting the incident to the UT Police Department, Spalding said.
Workers from the University Environmental Health and Safety Department cleaned and decontaminated the area Thursday afternoon, according to a UTPD press release. Firefighters from the AFD Special Operations Hazardous Materials Regional Strike Team in silver, full-body hazardous material suits were also seen entering the building along with other emergency personnel at the scene Friday night.
Students were still able to access the areas of Moore-Hill where the substance was found before the 11 p.m. Friday evacuation. They were also able to access the laundry room for a half hour after the quarantine was called off at 12 a.m. Saturday morning, and students slept in the dorm Friday night.
"It's bad luck and bad timing," said Chao Zhang, a finance senior whose clothes were in a washing machine in the quarantined area. "Hopefully I'll get them back tomorrow and I won't have to go shopping anytime soon."
After being evacuated, students were informed of the details about the contamination in Jester Auditorium.
"I live on the second floor - if I can get in my room t hen we're just going to go hang out," said Jenna Delaney, a business administration sophomore. "We're not worried."
Twenty-first street was closed from Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium to Speedway Avenue during the evacuation and decontamination.
Additional reporting by Kathy Adams, David Kassabian and Patrick George
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