Lenoir's Prime Recycling plant employees taken to hospital with difficulty breathing; EMS calls in SBI to investigate

Update at 4:55 p.m.: An individual exposed on the site visited the Fast Track Urgent Care on Burkemont Avenue in Morganton, prompting a response from Morganton Public Safety. Public Information Officer Jonelle Sigmon said, "Staff of the urgent care who were exposed have been decontaminated and transported to the hospital for treatment with non-life threatening injuries."

Caldwell County Emergency Services (EMS) took 14 recycling center employees to the hospital after opening a box coated in white powder caused them to have difficulty breathing, said Lenoir Fire Chief Norman Staines.

Staines said a total of 22 people were affected. EMS was able to treat a handful of them on the scene.

All employees were evacuated, Staines said.

It has not yet been determined what the white powder is. Staines said an Asheville Rapid Response Team in hazmat gear is taking samples to identify the substances.

Caldwell County Public Information Officer Paige Counts said that when first responders arrived at Prime Recycling, “they determined there was something more going on.”

The incident was called in just before 11 a.m., Staines said.

Prime Recycling is located on Watson Street Northwest just off State Highway 18. It is close to the Caldwell County Social Services and Sheriff’s office building in west Lenoir.

Responding agencies include Lenoir Fire Department, Caldwell County Emergency Services, Caldwell County Emergency Management, Asheville Rapid Response Team, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

Counts said the SBI's bomb squad is investigating "because of their X-ray capabilities."

This is a developing story.