Statement from Postmaster General on the Tenth Anniversary of the Anthrax Crisis
Filed under: anthrax, postal, postal news, press releases, usps
Ten years ago America experienced the unthinkable when anthrax was sent through the U.S. Mail and caused the death of five individuals, including two postal employees, and caused illness in others.
In the decade since this tragedy, the Postal Service decontaminated and renovated affected facilities, deployed state-of-the-art technology to detect and protect against potential threats and implemented educational programs for our employees and the mailing community.
The anthrax crisis served as a defining moment for the Postal Service and due to the unwavering dedication and commitment of Postal employees across the nation, the mail continued to move.
As we observe the 10-year anniversary of the anthrax crisis, we also acknowledge the more than 550,000 employees who continue to work tirelessly to process, deliver and protect the U.S. Mail — maintaining the public’s safety, confidence and trust in the U.S. Postal Service.
Postal Worker Exposed To Anthrax Facing Different Dilemma Over Transfer Request
Filed under: anthrax, letters to editor, postal, postal news, usps
Patrick O’Donnell was one of the postal workers infected in October 2001 when anthrax showed up at the Hamilton, New Jersey regional distribution center in mail headed for the U.S. Senate. Now 10 years later, O’Donnell is facing a different dilemma. Read more
Postal Workers Upset With USPS Following Incendiary Letter Incidents
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) — Post office employees say it took 45 minutes before police stepped in and evacuated the facility on V Street, SE.
“An employee yelled out that a package exploded. I was probably about 25 feet away from him and all I can think of is getting my coat and warning everyone on the way out,” said James Pickett, postal worker.
But Pickett says other postal employees weren’t able to follow him out the door.
“It was some 40-45 minutes before the building was evacuated,” he said.
“An employee came outside. She was leaving. She let the District Police know what happened and that’s when they came in and evacuated the building,” said Dena Briscoe, President of Local 140 of the Postal Workers Union.
She said managers failed to follow protocol.
“The Postal service failed to share information with employees here and in ‘Curseen Morris.’ They were briefed today; this morning… [it's] very late. It is after the fact,” she said.
Postal workers say Friday’s incident reminds them of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks.
full story via WUSA TV Washington
Norton Urges USPS Stamp Committee to Honor Members Killed in 2001 Anthrax Attack
Filed under: anthrax, APWU, postal, postal news, stamps, usps
APWU Web News Article 077-2010, Aug. 3, 2010
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) urged Postmaster General Potter and the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Council to approve a commemorative postage stamp honoring the lives of two APWU members killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. died after being exposed to anthrax in the attack at the Brentwood Mail Processing Facility in Washington, DC in October 2001. The facility has been renamed in their honor.
“These two men, born and raised in the District, dedicated their combined 52 years of service to their country and to the United States Postal Service as committed employees,” Norton said. “A commemorative stamp not only will honor the memory of their service and sacrifice, but will also remind Americans of the work and diligence of all those who protect the American people and the homeland.”
In April, Norton (D-DC) introduced a resolution (H Res. 1306) [PDF], co-sponsored by Donna Edwards (D-MD), recommending that the USPS issue a stamp honoring Curseen and Morris. The men are eligible for stamp commemoration because more than five years have passed since their deaths.
“We are pleased by the efforts to pay tribute to these dedicated postal employees, who were members of the APWU,” said union President William Burrus. “I look forward to a favorable response from the postmaster, and to a stamp in their honor in the near future.”
related link: Congresswomen Introduce Bill To Honor Two Postal Employees Who Died In Anthrax Attack
Six Cities To Train Mail Carriers To Deliver Anti-Terror Drugs
Filed under: anthrax, letter carriers, postal, postal news, usps, white house
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service is ready to deliver lifesaving drugs to about a quarter of the residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the only metropolitan area in the nation where letter carriers have been trained to dispense medication after a large-scale terrorist attack involving biological weapons.
Six years after the government began exploring the idea of using postal workers as rapid-response medicine dispensers and eight months after President Obama ordered government agencies to develop a plan to do so, efforts are underway in six cities to train workers to deliver the drugs needed to counter anthrax or other potentially deadly agents, the White House says.
The White House won’t name the six cities, and Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa says she can’t talk about whether more cities are interested in the voluntary program.
The projected cost to set up the program and train postal workers: $1 million per city, according to the White House.
Full story: USA Today- 6 cities to train mail carriers to dispense anti-terror drugs
Congresswomen Introduce Bill To Honor Two Postal Employees Who Died In Anthrax Attack
The following is a press release from the office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton:
April 28, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a resolution, along with Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD-04) as an original co-sponsor, to honor the lives of Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. with a commemorative stamp issued by the United States Postal Service. Both men died in the anthrax attack at the Brentwood Post Office in the District, now named in their honor. “These two men, born and raised in the District, dedicated their combined 52 years of service to their country and to the United States Postal Service as committed employees,” Norton said. “A commemorative stamp, not only will honor the memory of their service and sacrifice, but will also remind Americans of the work and diligence of all of those who protect the American people and the homeland.” The two men, who resided in Congresswoman Donna Edwards’ congressional district, are eligible for stamp commemoration, because the five-year time period since their deaths has passed.”
Norton’s statement on the resolution is attached.
REMARKS OF
CONGRESSWOMAN ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE
Anthrax Attack Commemorative Stamp Resolution
April 28, 2010
Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today I introduce a resolution directing the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend to the Postmaster General that a commemorative stamp be issued to honor the lives of Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr., the two United States Postal Service (USPS) workers, and District of Columbia natives, who died as a result of their exposure to anthrax while working at the USPS facility located at 900 Brentwood Road, NE, Washington, D.C., during the 2001 anthrax attack. This commemorative stamp meets the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee’s requirement that no postal item may be issued sooner than five years after an individual’s death.
Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. served the USPS honorably and diligently for a combined period of 52 years until their deaths on October 22, 2001, and October 21, 2001, respectively. Curseen, remembered as a quiet man with a fuzzy mustache, loved to tell stories and loved his church. He was so dedicated to his work, that during the 15 years that he worked for the USPS, he never called in sick. His co-workers described him as someone who was kind and courteous, who stayed at the Post Office seven days a week, giving up breaks to get the mail out, and who regularly led a postal worker Bible study group. In his neighborhood of Cambridge Estates, Maryland, Curseen was the president of the homeowners association, an avid jogger, and a member of St. John the Evangelist Church. To his neighbors, Curseen was someone who everyone knew, who was friendly, and who worked quietly, but “really got things done.” He helped build a playground and park in the Cambridge Estates area, even though he and his wife had no children. Although Curseen lived in Clinton, Maryland, he grew up in Southeast D.C., where Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church was his childhood parish and school. Curseen’s wife, Celestine Willingham Curseen, to whom he was married for 16 years, described her late husband as a generous, kind, hard-working man who will be greatly missed.
Thomas Morris, Jr. also grew up in the District of Columbia, although he and his family moved to Suitland, Maryland. Before joining the USPS, Morris served in the United States Air Force. Morris joined the USPC in 1973 and worked as a distribution clerk. He was a hard worker who had no aversion to working overtime, a proud husband and father of one son and two stepchildren, as well as the president of a bowling league team. To his neighbors, Morris was a quiet, thoughtful, deeply religious and humble man, who dispensed helpful, and often paternal, advice to his younger neighbors. His wife, Mary, described him as true to others and to himself, as someone who was respectful and law-abiding.
Please join me in honoring the lives of these two men, who died serving their country, and in requesting a commemorative stamp in their memory.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
DOJ, FBI And US Postal Inspection Service Announce Formal Conclusion of Investigation Into 2001 Anthrax Attacks
The following is a press release issued by the Justice Department:
The Justice Department, FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service today announced that the investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, which killed five individuals and sickened 17 others, has formally concluded.
Earlier today, representatives of the FBI and Justice Department provided a 92-page investigative summary along with attachments to victims of the attacks, relatives of the victims and appropriate committees of Congress. This document sets forth a summary of the evidence developed in the “Amerithrax” investigation, the largest investigation into a bio-weapons attack in U.S. history. As disclosed previously, the Amerithrax investigation found that the late Dr. Bruce Ivins acted alone in planning and executing these attacks.
The investigative summary and the attachments are now accessible to the public and have been posted to the Justice Department Web site at www.usdoj.gov/amerithrax under the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, roughly 2,700 pages of FBI documents related to the Amerithrax case are now accessible to the public and have been posted to the FBI website at http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/amerithrax.htm under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Amerithrax Task Force, which was comprised of roughly 25 to 30 full-time investigators from the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other law enforcement agencies, as well as federal prosecutors from the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section, expended hundreds of thousands of investigator work hours on this case. Their investigative efforts involved more than 10,000 witness interviews on six different continents, the execution of 80 searches and the recovery of more than 6,000 items of potential evidence during the course of the investigation. The case involved the issuance of more than 5,750 grand jury subpoenas and the collection of 5,730 environmental samples from 60 site locations.
Anthrax suspect dies in apparent suicide
The LA Times broke the story
One of the nation’s top biodefense researchers has died in Maryland from an apparent suicide, just as the Justice Department was to file criminal charges against him in the anthrax mailing assaults of 2001 that killed five, the Los Angeles Times has learned.
Bruce E. Ivins, 62, who for the past 18 years worked at the government’s elite biodefense research laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md., had been informed of the impending prosecution, people familiar with Ivins, his suspicious death and with the FBI investigation said.
Ivins’ name had not been disclosed publicly as a suspect in the case that disrupted mail service and Senate business three weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Maryland scientist had for years played a pivotal role in research to improve anthrax vaccines, preparing anthrax formulations used in experiments on animals.
Regarded as a skilled microbiologist, Ivins also had helped the FBI analyze the powdery material recovered from one of the anthrax-tainted envelopes sent to a U.S. senator’s office in Washington, D.C.
Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital after having ingested a massive dose of prescription Tylenol mixed with codeine, said a friend and colleague who declined to be identified out of concern, he said, that he would be harassed by the FBI.
The death — without any mention of suicide — was announced to Ivins’ colleagues at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, through a staffwide e-mail.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-anthrax1-2008aug01,0,3772533.story