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Officials: Brentwood is safe

After $130 million anthrax cleanup, mail-handling facility in Washington is declared ready for postal workers to return.

By DERRILL HOLLY

Date published: 11/13/2003

By Pamela Gould

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON--Two members of Congress joined District of Columbia officials yesterday for a tour of a massive mail-handling plant where two U.S. Postal Service employees from Maryland died after handling anthrax-laced letters bound for Capitol Hill.

Since last December, the federal government has spent $130 million decontaminating and renovating Northeast Washington's Brentwood mail facility in preparation for the return of employees.

"Every cent has been well spent, and we've got to make people understand that it's safe to come in here and buy stamps, get mail and, yes, even work here eight hours a day," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.

Since preparations to clean up the city's main mail-processing facility began following the anthrax attack of October 2001, Norton has insisted that elected officials and senior U.S. Postal Service managers spend time in the building before regular employees return.

"The building is safe as it can humanly be made, but we'd feel a whole lot safer if we caught the anthrax terrorist," Norton said. Contractors expect to turn the building over to the Postal Service Nov. 28, when administrators move into their refurbished offices. Counter service could begin by mid-December, with mail sorting operations possible by early January.

John H. Bridges III, an Aquia Harbour resident who served as incident commander for the cleanup, said he was glad to see the project reaching its conclusion.

"I think it culminates a lot of efforts," Bridges said of yesterday's tour by members of Congress and officials from federal agencies such as the General Accounting Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

He also said it "was a good signal" that those folks were willing to tour the building without any protective gear.

Since the building was fumigated last December, more than 28,000 samples have been taken to be sure that all the anthrax spores were killed.

Now, seven to 14 air samples are taken daily to check if anything is stirred up by using the building. Those tests have also failed to detect any problems, Bridges said.

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Date published: 11/13/2003