Anthrax hunters find clue in Princeton
Mailbox with spores has been replaced
Tuesday, August 13, 2002BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG AND JOHN P. MARTIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Authorities probing last fall's deadly anthrax mailings found traces of the chemical agent on a mailbox last week in the heart of Princeton, the first time they have found what could be the point of origin for the fatal letters.
Gov. James E. McGreevey said yesterday the box was removed after state health officials detected the anthrax spores Thursday, and he called the risk to the public "exceedingly small."
Federal agents said they have not yet determined if the mailbox was subject to cross-contamination from another source or whether it was the box where the deadly letters were mailed last fall. But it was the only mailbox among 561 tested in recent weeks that showed traces of the germ.
The box sat at Nassau and Bank streets, near the gates of Princeton University. Its contents were transferred each day to the Hamilton Township postal facility that processed the deadly letters and remains closed after it was contaminated by anthrax spores.
Five people died and 13 were sickened, including six in New Jersey, from handling or receiving the anthrax-tainted letters. The scare caused the closings of postal facilities in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., as well as the evacuation of government offices from Capitol Hill to the Federal Reserve and flashes of panic nationwide.
State officials cautioned yesterday that the latest discovery was not a reason for alarm. Representatives at the U.S. Postal Service and Princeton University said the news of the anthrax detection wouldn't affect their operations and hadn't sparked a run for antibiotics.
"Nobody needs to be taking medication because of this," state Health Commissioner Clifton Lacy said. "This is the culmination of law enforcement activities."
Those activities appear to have intensified in recent weeks. Lacy said the FBI had delivered hundreds of specimens for anthrax testing to health department labs in the past week, though he didn't know why. And FBI Special Agent Bill Evanina confirmed that agents were questioning people in the neighborhood of the mailbox.
"They will be for quite a while," Evanina said.
Four people who work near the intersection said investigators specifically asked them yesterday about Steven Hatfill, a bio-defense expert from Maryland who on Sunday accused federal investigators of fueling rumors about him and who proclaimed his innocence.
The workers, who asked not to be identified, said a postal inspector and Trenton detective showed them a photo of Hatfill and asked if they had seen him near the area. Neither recalled seeing him there, they said.
Authorities have said only that Hatfill is among a group of "persons of interest" in the investigation. A law enforcement source told the Associated Press yesterday that agents have no physical evidence linking Hatfill to the attacks but that the FBI is not yet ready to clear his name.
Nick Manetto, a spokesman for Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), who has been actively following the investigation, said an FBI agent mentioned Hatfill's name during a conversation with Smith's office.
"He said they have a reason to be looking at him, but wouldn't call him a suspect," Manetto said.
Manetto said the bureau regards the mailbox contamination as potential evidence left behind by the anthrax-laced letters that were postmarked "Trenton" last fall, not of a new round of attacks.
Scientists have determined that anthrax spores can survive for years, possibly decades. They are frequently found in the soil in cattle-raising areas and can cause infection if they come into contact with a hospitable environment, such as an open sore or a cut on the skin.
McGreevey said the state health department should complete testing of 39 more boxes by the end of the week. He declined to discuss the scope of the investigation or to categorize the significance of the discovery.
He announced the finding at an afternoon news conference at FBI offices in Newark, where he was flanked by state Attorney General David Samson and FBI Special Agent in Charge Louie F. Allen.
The Governor said he decided to announce the finding yesterday after being authorized by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, which is overseeing the federal probe into the anthrax mailings. McGreevey repeatedly deferred questions to the federal prosecutor's office.
But a law enforcement source with knowledge of the case said federal investigators were unaware that McGreevey planned a news conference or that he would be speaking about the anthrax case.
"The Governor's decision took them by surprise," the source said.
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie was unavailable for comment yesterday. But in response to McGreevey's remarks, his office released a three-paragraph statement acknowledging the postal box had been removed. It declined to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Staff writers Joe Donohue and Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report.