Results of anthrax tests in two New Jersey mail distribution facilities will be released on Thursday, according to U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Diane Todd.
According to news reports, the USPS began testing the Monmouth Processing and Distributing Center in Eatontown and the Kilmer General Mail Facility in Edison after a construction contractor sampled dust from equipment in areas where mail is received and sorted.
Meantime, other federal authorities are investigating whether spores found in a Princeton mailbox had been there since tainted letters surfaced last fall.
Last fall, anthrax spores were found in postal distribution facilities in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Washington, DC, leading to the deaths of five people, and prompting the USPS to ask Congress for more than $4 billion to irradiate and otherwise sanitize mail from biological contaminants.
In addition, anthrax-laden letters had been sent to various members of Congress including Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. (DIRECT Newsline, Nov. 8, 2001).
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