Published Tuesday, October 30, 2001

Herald Link

S. Florida postal union wants judge to order test of centers

BY JAY WEAVER, DANIEL De VISE AND AMY DRISCOLL, jweaver@herald.com

A South Florida postal union sued the U.S. Postal Service on Monday to force the agency to test its mail facilities for anthrax bacteria and to perform exposure tests on thousands of employees -- demands that could slow mail flow temporarily.

The Miami chapter of the America Postal Workers Union wants a federal judge to temporarily close up to 13 mail centers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties to conduct the tests next week.

The demands, which could be heard by a judge this week, came as public health officials in Miami-Dade announced that anthrax tests on three local postal workers showed no sign of the bacterium.

``All of our tests have come back negative,'' said Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, director of epidemiology for the county's health department. ``There are currently no cases of anthrax in Miami-Dade.''

Three Miami-Dade postal employees -- including two who were briefly hospitalized -- were tested for anthrax exposure last week after they displayed flu-like symptoms.

Attorney Neil Flaxman, representing the postal union, said it turned to the courts Monday out of frustration with the postal service and local health officials who refused to conduct tests despite the outbreak at American Media's publishing headquarters in Boca Raton. The outbreak killed Sun photo editor Bob Stevens and infected mailroom employee Ernesto Blanco.

``A court order is the only way to make them do it,'' said union president Judy Johnson.

The 3,300-employee union -- mostly distribution clerks -- also wants a judge to order the postal service to provide gloves and face masks for all employees, including those in public view. Last week, postal officials agreed to provide high-tech equipment to neutralize anthrax spores, and distribute improved masks and gloves to as many as 500,000 postal employees nationwide who process, sort, deliver or in any way touch mail. [yes, we have them, but the window clerks are not allowed to use them because it would look bad to the customers.]

South Florida postal service representatives Enola Rice and Joseph Breckenridge said they could not comment on the union's lawsuit because they had not received it. A status conference on the suit is set for 8:15 a.m. Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz.

Palm Beach County health officials maintain that postal workers do not need testing because authorities found only traces of anthrax spores in four county mail facilities there, and no postal workers have developed symptoms of the disease.

But union leaders say their members remain worried by anthrax detected in postal buildings in Palm Beach County, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey.

Johnson said she believes that the closing of some distribution facilities temporarily could slow down, but not stop, mail delivery.

At the American Media Inc. building, meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that after a week of testing it has found several minute traces of anthrax on the tainted first floor.

Tests conducted on 277 samples collected around the AMI building found anthrax spores in 32 places, including the company mailroom, the computer keyboard used by Stevens, desks just outside the mail room, a stairwell, an elevator and on a lobby door.

EPA officials said the spores likely were carried on the hands and feet of AMI workers or EPA testers.

None of the samples, taken from sections of floor tile and desktops, yielded more than 20 anthrax spores. A person must breathe 8,000 to 10,000 spores to contract pulmonary anthrax.

``It doesn't appear to have spread throughout the building,'' said EPA spokesman Mark Merchant. ``Wherever the FBI found positive [results] is where we found positives.''

Investigators say they believe the two AMI employees caught anthrax from a contaminated letter sent through the mail.

Four post offices believed to have handled the letter have tested positive for traces of anthrax.

FBI officials also waited for results Monday on an envelope mailed from South Florida to Argentina that allegedly tested positive for anthrax. [This is the one I want to know about. It went thru our facility.]

Also, agents put to rest rumors that the FBI missed testing for anthrax a powder found inside the trunk of a car rented by alleged suicide hijacker Mohammed Atta.

Judy Orihuela, an FBI spokeswoman in Miami, said agents thoroughly checked a white 1995 Ford Escort rented twice by Atta, once in August and once in September.

He returned the car two days before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Said Orihuela: ``We would have discovered or checked for any powder. If it had been anthrax, agents would have turned up sick by now, and no one has.''

Again, our facility is being checked today, and others will be checked as well during the coming days. We're first because we are the main and largest facility. This is in response to the postmaster general stating that various facilities along the east coast would be checked, and NOT because of any lawsuits.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Answers

Guess what?

We didn't get tested on Tuesday, although that is exactly what the local news said happened.

The guys showed up, then the news people showed up, then the guys were taken away 'to a hotel' and one walked the building deciding where they would take samples from.

Their van is hidden behind two semi-trailers next to the loading dock. Yes, hidden in a corner with two trailers positioned so that no one can see it.

People in the building are not happy about the fact that we were told the test would happen and then being there and not seeing it happen.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

The South Boston postal annex (the largest in Greater Boston) was swept last weekend and found to be clean. We had quite a flurry of anthrax scares in Massachusetts, but none of them were determined to be legit. So, it kind of surprised me that the postal annex was being checked, although I'm happy to hear it. But not the priority among other postal facilities along the east coast that I would have expected.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001