Anthrax scare shuts down Johnson
City Post Office
From Staff Reports
An anthrax scare at the Main Street Post Office
in East Johnson City had postal employees on high alert late
Monday night and early Tuesday, according to Postmaster Rusty
Field.
Field said that a "powder" was found on a loading
dock at the post office and that a private hazardous materials
team had been called in by local authorities to remove the
substance. The powder has been taken for lab analysis at the
State Public Health Service in Nashville.
Field said that the post office has "had biohazard
incident procedures in place since the Clinton administration,"
and that those procedures were followed during the incident.
Postal employees covered the powder with plastic and cordoned
off the area before calling 911, Field said.
Field said that he doubts the substance was anthrax,
though under the circumstances, it was best for employees
to err on the side of caution.
"We handle only half a million packages per day,
a fraction of the 680 million shipped daily nationwide," he
said. "We don't deliver to any obvious political or military
targets, so the chances of this being anything serious are
infinitesimal."
Employees at the post office have not been instructed
to take antibiotics, Field said -- adding that the incident
"did not meet the criteria to qualify as a threat."
The office was shut down for more than two hours
while Hepaco field technician removed the powder. Field said
that the private company had been called in by authorities
because local hazmat crews were "not capable" of dealing with
biohazardous materials."
In response to a rumor that the powder was laundry
detergent, Field said, "We are constantly delivering detergent
samples from Procter and Gamble, so there is always a chance
that the substance could be washing powder. But we don't know
that at this point.
"We didn't find any mail or any mail container
that was leaking."
Most employees at the post office do not wear
gloves and masks, according to Field, though both were made
available weeks ago.
"We did have a few employees who were wearing
gloves," Field said. "But less people are wearing them now
after the incident."
Lab results are expected before Friday, he said.
