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U.S. Post Offices Saw 20,000 Powder Scares Since 2001
U.S. Post offices have reported more than 20,000 cases of suspicious powder found in packages and letters since the 2001 anthrax attacks, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, March 3). The vast majority of the cases have been false alarms, raised over substances from the mundane — dust, talc and soap — to the more exotic — powdered alfredo sauce, pudding mix and ground lentils. “A person will see something on a machine, the floor, a case, leaking out of an envelope or box,” said Patrick Donahoe, the U.S. Postal Service’s chief operation officer. “They have been instructed, if they see something like that to consider it dangerous,” he said. Donahoe said there is no pattern to the false alarms, but more of the incidents have occurred in the East than in the West, perhaps because the anthrax attacks occurred in East Coast cities and workers in that region are more sensitive to such events occurring again. Officials said they were unable to estimate the costs of investigating suspicious powder incidents, but postal inspector Molly McMinn said that responding to false alarms drained postal resources (Associated Press/USA Today, March 4).
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