A suspicious substance found at a Pentagon mail facility today has reportedly tested positive for anthrax. The sorting facility was shut down early
this afternoon after bio-chem alarms sounded indicating the possible presence of a dangerous substance. Further testing returned a positive result
for anthrax; additional tests after that returned negative results. Officials are treating this as a criminal investigation and have not yet
definitively ruled the substance benign. The pieces of mail had already been irradiated before reaching the facility, so even if extensive testing
shows the presence of anthrax, it would have been rendered harmless before reaching human hands.
www.foxnews.com
WASHINGTON — A hazardous material found at the Pentagon's mail facility has tested positive for anthrax , U.S. defense officials told FOX News late
Monday.
An alarm triggered by sensors detected the presence of a chemical or biological agent at the mail delivery building around 10:30 a.m. EST, a spokesman
told reporters in the morning. Officials shut down the facility, which is in a separate structure on the northwest side of the Pentagon grounds. It
is to remain closed for at least another day.
About 175 people who work in the Pentagon's mail facility are being offered the option of antibiotics but defense officials said that by late
afternoon, no one had experienced any signs or symptoms of exposure.
While subsequent tests on the substance proved negative, the appearance of the agent is now the target of a criminal investigation by the FBI, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and local law enforcement. The substance will be further tested at a facility at Ft. Meade, Md.
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The Pentagon continues to operate as normal; this mail facility is located adjacent to the building and any substance poses no risk to anyone inside
the Pentagon.
A second military sorting facility in Falls Church, VA was also shut down when bio-chem alarms were triggered there as well.
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[edit on 14-3-2005 by Banshee]
