The FBI is concentrating its “Amerithrax” investigation of last fall’s anthrax attacks on about 30 biological weapons experts and has searched the homes of more than 24 people recently — always with the person’s consent, the bureau said yesterday (see GSN, June 27).

Steven Hatfill, a former biological weapons defense scientist whose apartment was searched this week, is on a list of “persons of interest,” but is not considered a suspect, the FBI said.  Hatfill previously worked at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and at the defense contractor Science Applications International Corp.

Authorities became interested in Hatfill because he allowed his security clearance to expire last August, the Washington Post reported. 

“Obviously, he is somebody who had access to anthrax and scientific capability,” an FBI official said.  “That is why we want to look at him — to either remove him from a list of potentials or add him to a list of potentials .... Are we saying he’s the guy, or even a suspect?  No, we’re not” (Gugliotta/Eggen, Washington Post, June 28).

Hatfill Taught Bioterrorism Response Classes

Hatfill has recently been employed at Louisiana State University as part of a U.S.-funded program to train first responders in the event of a terrorist attack that involved biological weapons, the Hartford Courant reported today (see GSN, Feb. 27).

Hatfill has been working at the LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training, the Courant reported.  In January, the university received $11.5 million from the Justice Department to train first responders on how to respond to a biological weapons attack (see GSN, Jan. 14).

University officials confirmed that Hatfill’s employment as an instructor.

“When he works here it’s as an adjunct instructor and he develops and teaches his own class,” said Gene Sands, LSU executive director of university relations.  “I can’t tell you right now whether he is being paid by the university” (Altimari/Dolan. Hartford Courant, June 28).

Officials Inform Residents on Brentwood Postal Center Cleanup

U.S. Postal Service and Washington officials yesterday held a meeting to inform neighbors of the anthrax-contaminated Brentwood Road postal center on how the decontamination effort would be conducted (see GSN, June 11).

The decontamination project is scheduled to begin before the end of the summer, but no specific dates have yet been set, said Postal Service Vice President for Engineering Thomas Day.  The start of the project is weeks, and not months, away, he added.

“Safety is more important than time,” Day said.

Officials listed a number of safety measures that will be taken during the decontamination effort, which will use chlorine dioxide gas, according to the Washington Post.  The safety measures include filling the facility with a nontoxic dye to detect leaks, monitoring the area around the facility with high-tech devices and enabling a number of federal and local agencies to provide oversight on the project, the Post reported.

“If we find one spore, we will not open that building,” said Theodore Gordon, the Washington Health Department’s senior deputy director for public health assurance.

Some Brentwood Road area residents, however, said they were not confident that Washington officials could guarantee their safety during the cleanup project.

“We are very concerned about the cleanup,” said Ronnie Thomas, who lives about a mile away from the facility.  “If it’s so safe, you would think they wouldn’t have to take so many precautions to make sure the building is leak free” (Manny Fernandez, Washington Post, June 28).

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