Anthrax:  Maryland Pond Search Turns Up No New Evidence

Law enforcement sources have said that soil samples taken from a pond near Frederick, Md., which the FBI drained as part of its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, tested negative for anthrax, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, July 3).

The FBI spent three weeks and $250,000 to drain the pond, where agents had earlier recovered pieces of laboratory equipment (see GSN, June 30).  However, the operation revealed only discarded items, such as a gun and a bicycle, that appear to be unrelated to the anthrax attacks, sources said.

“Clearly there were no home runs,” a law enforcement source said.

Investigators are now focusing on working with scientists to determine the genetic code of the anthrax used in the attacks in an attempt to link it to a specific laboratory, law enforcement sources said.  In addition, investigators are also reinterviewing people, the Post reported (Lengel/Gugliotta, Washington Post, Aug. 1).

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