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Anthrax: Brentwood Postal Facility Successfully Decontaminated The effort to decontaminate Washington’s Brentwood Road postal facility of anthrax, following the autumn 2001 anthrax attacks, appears to be a success, U.S. Postal Service officials said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2002). Thousands of air and surface samples taken from the facility all came back negative for anthrax spores, officials said. While the results of the tests still need to be reviewed by an expert committee, the preliminary findings prompted postal officials to say the facility could be reopened to postal workers by summer, according to the Washington Post. “We are very confident that we have a building that is anthrax-free,” said Thomas Day, Postal Service vice president for engineering. The Environmental Clearance Committee, consisting of 15 academic, government and private-industry experts, is now reviewing the results of the air and surface samples, the Post reported. Committee members plan to enter the Brentwood facility today without wearing protective equipment, and they are expected to confirm the successful decontamination in a report to be released in the next few days, officials said. Some Brentwood employees, however, still have lingering fears (see GSN, Jan. 8). “The majority of workers have anxieties about going back,” said Dena Briscoe, who worked as a clerk in the facility and is now president of Brentwood Exposed, a support group of former and current workers. “That’s really our building, as workers. We would love for that building to be ours again, but it’s going to take time to adjust,” she said (Manny Fernandez, Washington Post, March 5). For further information, see: CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax Journal of the American Medical Association Background on Anthrax GSN Anthrax Attack Chronology (Dec. 12, 2001)
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