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Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 25, 2003


Decontamination of Sterling Mail Facility


In October 2001, a State Department contract employee working at the Sterling Mail Facility was diagnosed with inhalation anthrax and admitted to the hospital. We immediately closed the facility. Following environmental testing conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of State and our contractors in October and November 2001, anthrax contamination was found. Over the past several months, we have taken a very deliberate and collaborative approach to developing plans for decontamination of the facility. This includes taking into account lessons learned from the clean-up of the Hart Senate Office Building and the on-going Brentwood decontamination effort.

  • The first priority is to ensure the health and safety of employees, the community, and those who are performing the decontamination work. Our intent is to decontaminate and renovate the building for re-occupancy.
  • The Department of State established a Project Team, comprised of experts from federal and local government agencies and private industry, to safely and effectively manage this complicated anthrax decontamination effort.
  • Working closely with experts from such federal, state and local government agencies as EPA, CDC/NIOSH, CDC/NCID, CDC/OSHA, the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Virginia Department of Health and Loudoun County emergency preparedness personnel, as well as others, we developed plans for the removal of building contents, a fumigation plan and post-decontamination environmental sampling.
  • The US Army Corps of Engineers Rapid Response Program (USACE) was selected to perform the decontamination based upon their expertise in this field. All work is being accomplished in accordance with federal, state, and local government requirements.
  • We are taking a conservative approach to decontaminating this facility. Our strategy is to dispose of as much of the contents of the building as possible, thereby significantly reducing the exposed surface area for fumigation. This effort has been underway since last November and we expect it will be finished by the end of May.

  • We will then clean selected hot spots and other areas of the building with a chlorine solution, which is effective in killing anthrax spores. Finally, the entire building is to be fumigated using Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP).

  • Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) was selected as the best available option for our facility, based upon an evaluation of the major fumigants available for use in anthrax decontamination efforts. Key evaluation criteria were safety factors, such as risk to community, toxicity, and industry experience with the fumigant.
  • Vaporized hydrogen peroxide has been proven to be effective in treating anthrax contamination.
  • The process to be used for fumigation employs a dry non-condensing vapor, so there should not be any byproducts from the fumigation. Hydrogen peroxide naturally decomposes to water vapor and oxygen. There are no harmful residues from this process.
  • Fumigation is tentatively scheduled for June-August 2003.

  • We do not believe that the community should be concerned about gas or anthrax particles escaping during decontamination. The entire building has gone through an extensive sealing process to prevent the escape of gas or anthrax spores into the atmosphere – from both the inside and the outside. The building is under negative pressure. Air surrounding the facility will be monitored throughout the fumigation process. If any gas levels of concern are detected, the fumigation will be terminated immediately.
  • In addition, we are developing contingency plans for any potential emergency event. They will be shared with the community before fumigation.

  • Extensive environmental testing will be conducted throughout the decontamination project.

  • Following decontamination, an Environmental Clearance Committee, comprised of public health officials and members of employee groups and the community, will make recommendations to the Department of State on the appropriateness of re-occupancy of the facility.
  • We will continue to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of employees and the community throughout this decontamination effort.

[End]

Released on March 25, 2003

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