Anthrax attacks changed mail handling

[August 02, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five lives and millions of dollars later, the anthrax-by-mail mystery may be solved, but the way the post office and many government agencies handle the mail has undergone major changes.

When what seemed like dust spilled from envelopes in Florida, New York and Washington in 2001, it seemed little more than annoyance. But infections quickly developed, killing five people and sickening 17.

The attacks burst back into the spotlight Friday after a biodefense researcher apparently committed suicide as prosecutors prepared to seek an indictment and the death penalty against him for the deadly 2001 attacks, according to officials.

The scientist, Bruce E. Ivins, was a leading military anthrax researcher who worked for the past 35 years at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick, Md.

The bioterrorism attacks forced the closing of two major mail processing plants and contaminated 21 other postal facilities. The Postal Service also had to deal with more than 17,000 hoaxes that disrupted operations nationwide.

Today, more than 1,000 biological detectors are sniffing mail for dangerous contamination at postal centers and other government offices across the country.

Neighborhood boxes to send mail have become scarcer.

Some concerned homeowners switched to outdoor boxes to receive mail instead of using slots in their doors.

More than a million containers of mail to Congress, the White House and other federal agencies have been irradiated to kill potential contamination at a cost of $74.7 million so far. Each container weighs 15 to 20 pounds.

And many packages that used to be dropped in mailboxes now must be handed over the counter to a postal clerk.

"The mail is safer. It's not totally safe but it's safer," William Burrus, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said Friday of the changes over recent years. Two members of his union were among those killed in the attacks.

"There is no guarantee that it won't be repeated at some time in the future," Burrus said. "But postal workers don't focus on it ... they have a feeling of security."

Burrus added that while it has been reported that Ivins would have been indicted, "that is not a conviction. Right now all we have is an accusation."

The post office deployed a fleet of biodetection systems at mail processing locations at a cost of more than $800 million. The annual operating cost has been estimated at more than $100 million.

The detectors check for anthrax and other biological hazards, which officials declined to identify.

Postal workers now are trained to look for suspicious packages and call in postal inspectors if they detect something unusual.

Among the things that make a package suspicious are leaking powder and liquids. There are also other telltale signs that the agency does not like to discuss for fear of tipping off terrorists.

When powder is leaking from a parcel, most of the time it turns out to be food, such as flour or baking powder, or perhaps a pill that has gotten crushed.

Such is the worry about anthrax that incidents have disrupted the nation's post offices tens of thousands of times since 2001.

And even when they turn out to be false alarms, they take a toll on nerves and work time, and must be taken seriously.

When workers see something on a machine, the floor, a case, leaking out of an envelope or box, they have been instructed to consider it dangerous. The area is sealed off and local hazardous materials teams and the Postal Inspection Service are called in.

Postal Service officials have said they couldn't estimate the cost of checking out suspicious packages.

How much time is lost depends on the facility. In a large one, only one area may have to be evacuated, while a smaller office may have to be shut down.

Burrus said he remains concerned that not all mail is processed in postal facilities. Some is prepared in advance by large business mailers and dropped off for delivery.

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On the Net:

U.S. Postal Service: http://www.usps.com

American Postal Workers Union: http://www.apwu.org

[Associated Press; By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID]

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