Batch of Mail Sent to Fed Tests Positive for Traces of Anthrax

About 20 pieces of mail sent to the Federal Reserve tested positive for traces of anthrax in an initial screening, and additional tests were ordered.

The mail didn’t have handwritten addresses or any other characteristics the FBI considers suspicious, officials said Thursday.

The tainted mail, which did not make it into the central bank’s offices, was discovered as part of routine testing in a trailer in a courtyard at the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in downtown Washington.

Such preliminary tests, performed late Tuesday and Wednesday in this case, often prove inaccurate. Swabs that produced the positive readings will be sent to a laboratory for additional testing.

“Nothing indicates thus far that there is a real threat here,” said Llelwyn Grant, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His organization was not called in to do the testing, which will be handled by a private lab.

U.S. Postal Inspector Dan Mihalko appeared to agree.

“There is a very real possibility this could have been traces on some piece of equipment,” he said. “Until the very detailed culture tests come back, we’ll have to wait and see. It could be mail that rubbed against something at an outside location.”

Mihalko said none of the letters was similar to the threatening notes sent last year to media organizations and Capitol Hill.

“The affected mail was routine commercial and business mail and did not have any of the characteristics identified by the FBI as suspicious,” the Fed said in a statement. For instance, the mail did not feature handwritten, block-letter addresses.

The mail did not contain powder, Fed spokesman David Skidmore said.

The Federal Reserve did not have information on where the mail originated or where it had been processed. All mail addressed to the federal government is irradiated to kill any possible anthrax, but even the presence of dead spores could produce an initial positive reading.

Some of the mail was addressed to Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan as well as other officials, Skidmore said. He said the 20 pieces of mail had postmarks of April or May.

“Subsequent tests of mailroom surfaces and mail distribution points within the board’s buildings have all been negative,” the Fed said.

The Federal Reserve stopped distributing mail to its buildings Wednesday. However, the off-site mail facility is continuing to receive mail.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it is important not to jump to conclusions. “I think the lesson that everyone has learned from the anthrax episodes of last fall is preliminary information is often incorrect information,” Fleischer said.

The Fed also had positive initial test readings for a batch of mail received in December. Extensive follow-up tests never found any new letters containing anthrax. The Fed said Thursday that it believes those initial positive readings were “the result of cross-contamination.”