LV mail center to be tested for anthrax spores

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001 | 9:45 a.m.

The Las Vegas Mail Processing & Distribution Center will be tested Monday for anthrax as part of a nationwide precaution initiated by the U.S. Postal Service.

Although there have been no reports of the deadly bacteria in Southern Nevada, the processing center in the James C. Brown Facility at 1001 E. Sunset Road is one of 260 postal buildings across the country that will be tested. Retail operations at the facility will remain open all day.

Distribution center manager Ken McArthur said postal workers will be temporarily moved from areas being sampled by hazardous materials contractors, although they will be able to work in other parts of the building.

"They're going to test equipment, rooms and docks," McArthur said.

Samples will be analyzed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and test results are expected within 10 days. Four Americans have died from inhaled anthrax in the past month, including two postal workers.

The Clark County Commission was told Tuesday that the county is prepared for possible terrorist attacks. Jim O'Brien, the county's emergency management plans and operations officer, said plans have been in place since the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

But O'Brien said the plans have been updated in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We have also conducted two exercises to simulate a bioterrorist event," O'Brien said. "We have made corrections and incorporated them in our planning process."

He said area hospitals have antibiotics to counter possible anthrax outbreaks and that additional medicine and medical supplies can be made available within 12 hours through federal "push packages." Each such package contains 50 tons of supplies.

With the help of federal funding, O'Brien said about 180 local emergency management, law enforcement and hospital workers have received specialized preparedness training in the event of a terrorist attack. Commissioner Dario Herrera said he was impressed with the county's emergency readiness based on its response to area flooding in 1999.

"It is imperative to let the public know that we have a plan in place," Herrera said. "We are doing everything we can."

The commission also was told that bills in Congress intended to increase airport security may help defray the additional $5 million McCarran International Airport estimates it will cost to beef up its security in response to the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington.

It was also revealed Tuesday by the Clark County Health District that a suspicious package discovered last month at the Clark County Courthouse was not contaminated with any infectious or toxic substances.