Shoreview Wells Fargo building evacuated after substance found in envelope

A Wells Fargo administration building in Shoreview was evacuated Thursday after a yellowish substance was found in an envelope.

Within five minutes of an employee opening the envelope, Wells Fargo security guards had closed the air vent and sealed the area off, Ramsey County Sheriff's Office spokesman Randy Gustafson said. Five hundred people were evacuated.

The employee who might have touched the substance did not immediately show any symptoms, Gustafson said. The female employee was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center.

A hazmat team removed the substance, which was sent to a state Department of Health lab to be identified.

"They can immediately identify for Level One main 'worry-about-it'-type substances," Gustafson said. "They've got warning devices that the hazmat team carries in with them, and it wasn't any of those on that."

Wells Fargo the building has been cleared for employees to return, Gustafson said.