USPS Tests Decontamination System in NJ
The U.S. Postal Service began a limited test at the Trenton Processing and Distribution Center in Hamilton Township, NJ, on Oct. 11 to evaluate the decontamination system.It has been two years since the building was closed after anthrax was found at the facility. Since 2001, New Jersey has had five confirmed anthrax infections and two suspected cases, but there have been no deaths.
Postal workers, under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency, pumped low levels of anthrax-killing chlorine dioxide gas into the building. The four-hour process was an initial test for a future full-scale cleanup campaign. A similar procedure killed anthrax spores at the Brentwood postal facility in Washington, D.C., where two employees died from anthrax exposure.
