F.B.I. Did Not Test Letter to NBC or Immediately Notify City Hall
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/13/nyregion/13HAND.html F.B.I. Did Not Test Letter to NBC or Immediately Notify City HallBy JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JIM DWYERAlthough the F.B.I. was notified on Sept. 25 about suspicious letters sent to NBC, neither the letters, nor the powder residue inside them were tested until nearly two weeks later, and then only because a private doctor notified city public health officials about a troubling skin condition in the news assistant who had handled the mail, officials acknowledged yesterday.In fact, the F.B.I. laboratory neither performed nor sought any tests on the powder or the skin samples taken from the employee, identified as Erin M. O'Connor, a 38-year-old assistant to Tom Brokaw."That, unfortunately, did not take place," said Barry W. Mawn, assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.'s New York office.He also said the agents had intended to interview Ms. O'Connor soon after they learned of the case, but did not, for reasons he did not explain.F.B.I. officials said investigators picked up the envelopes on Sept. 26, the day after NBC security officials called the agency. New York City officials were not informed of the preliminary inquiry until days later.Indeed if the Health Department had not been alerted to the case by a private doctor, it might well have hibernated in the F.B.I. files.Mr. Mawn said yesterday that the agency had to investigate dozens of threats, scares and false alarms, and that is how this case was initially treated. Since Sept. 11, when the two planes slammed into the World Trade Center, city and federal law enforcement officials have received hundreds of reports of menace and foul play ranging from bomb threats to chemical attack scares.The discovery of a case of apparently deliberate anthrax poisoning in the heart of New York City is just the latest in a string of terrifying events that have challenged the law enforcement and health care infrastructure in the last month. It pushed health care officials to nail down a pathogen that most of them had no experience with.And it once again tested the fragile relationship that has always existed between the New York City Police Department and the F.B.I., agencies that are forced to work in tandem on unprecedented and constantly evolving crimes."Information sharing between the F.B.I. and the N.Y.P.D. has always been poor," said one person who has worked closely with both agencies. "There is often a lack of willingness on the F.B.I.'s part to share information, although it is getting better. As they move forward, clearly the F.B.I. is going to have to be more forthcoming."In this case, Mr. Mawn said, the gravity of the situation was not fully appreciated by the federal authorities until recently.On Sept. 25., Ms. O'Connor handled a letter postmarked from St. Petersburg, Fla., filled with white powder, according to law enforcement officials. She also handled a second letter containing a sandy substance. Network officials, immediately suspicious, called the F.B.I., which picked up the letters the next day.Then, the agency began to prepare a cover letter for its own laboratory indicating that the substances needed to be tested, but the letter was never completed and the evidence was never sent from the F.B.I.'s office in New York to its laboratory, said Joseph Valiquette, an F.B.I. spokesman.He added that some delays happened because investigators were unable to interview Ms. O'Connor to supplement the cover letter. "We wanted to send a complete package to the laboratory," said Mr. Valiquette. So none of it was sent. Mr. Valiquette said he did not know why the F.B.I. could not speak with Ms. O'Connor, who works in Rockefeller Plaza and lives in the metropolitan area.On Sept. 28, Ms. O'Connor developed a strange sore on her chest. Nervous, she went to see Dr. Richard Fried, a Manhattan infectious disease specialist, said Dr. Annetta Kimball, the doctor covering for Dr. Fried, who could not be reached last night.Armed with the description of the rash which she described as central scarring surrounded by a lot of swelling the doctor likely consulted his textbooks to nail down what was going on. Dr. Kimball said that Dr. Fried suspected that his patient had been exposed to anthrax, and immediately prescribed Cipro."There is a good chance he had never seen anthrax before," said Dr. Kimball. "This is New York City, not an agricultural area." He also took cultures from a wound Ms. O'Connor developed, but those swabs were negative for anthrax, she said.At some point, officials and Dr. Kimball said, the patient visited a dermatologist.One of those doctors notified the city's Health Department on Oct. 6 of a possible case of anthrax. The city has among the most sophisticated epidemiologists and public health labs in the country.Mr. Valiquette said that the F.B.I. learned from the city's Health Department that "this was an issue." The substance eventually made its way to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which went to unusual lengths to identify it. There was little powder to work with, and a power failure in the lab halted the work for nearly a day, said Dr. James M. Hughes of the C.D.C."None of this ever did go to the F.B.I. lab," he said.One of the Ms. O'Connor's doctors ordered a skin biopsy, which was sent to the C.D.C. But by the time the tissue was taken, the patient had begun taking an antibiotic to counter possible anthrax. As intended, that drug degraded the cellular structure of the bacteria. On Wednesday, the city was informed of the case under investigation. The C.D.C. was able to identify the spores of anthrax, and officials were informed of the results early yesterday morning.Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced the first confirmed case of anthrax yesterday morning at NBC.He was described by a person who was with him early yesterday as being "three feet off the ground" when he learned that the F.B.I. had not brought word of the developments to city officials earlier.Mr. Mawn acknowledged that investigators revisited the case after learning of the concerns of the health officials. "A second notification came through to the Department of Health, at which time the evidence response people and the F.B.I. also became involved with it. It was initially assigned to two agents that just covered the lead. And upon that, it was immediately submitted for tests. As you know and as the mayor has talked about, those tests were initially negative."Yesterday, The New York Times received a letter filled with white powder that was addressed to a reporter, Judith Miller. The Times notified the mayor's office, and city and F.B.I. officials responded immediately. Tests for radioactive and chemical substances were negative, and results from a more definitive test for anthrax DNA by state and federal labs were expected over the weekend.Coordinating the efforts of the various law enforcement and public health officials is proving tricky there have been dozens of bomb and other threats around the city since Sept. 11, and the city, which investigates each case, cannot inform the public or other agencies about each one. Just yesterday, the city heard of about a half dozen cases of suspicious powder or envelopes that it is investigating, the mayor said."If there was a problem, it was in the way they first investigated it," one Police Department official said of the F.B.I.'s performance.But there was some concern last night among health care experts about the delay in the testing. The inability of the agency to identify the substance was "not very comforting," said one C.D.C. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "That is a little disappointing, to say the least."Anthrax spores, if kept under appropriate conditions sealed and unexposed to lots of light can be preserved for years, said Jerome M. Hauer, the former director of the Office of Emergency Management and currently managing director of Kroll Inc., an investigation firm. He added: "You don't want them sitting around. In this environment, you hope there is good information sharing, especially when it involves biological agents."
on Sat, Oct 13, 2001 at 04:40:02PM -0700, AARG! Anonymous (remailer@aarg.net) wrote:
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October 13, 2001
F.B.I. Did Not Test Letter to NBC or Immediately Notify
City Hall
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JIM DWYER
Although the F.B.I. was notified on Sept. 25 about suspicious
letters sent to NBC, neither the letters, nor the powder residue
inside them were tested until nearly two weeks later, and then only
because a private doctor notified city public health officials about
a troubling skin condition in the news assistant who had handled the
mail, officials acknowledged yesterday.
In fact, the F.B.I. laboratory neither performed nor sought any
tests on the powder or the skin samples taken from the employee,
identified as Erin M. O'Connor, a 38-year-old assistant to Tom
Brokaw.
"That, unfortunately, did not take place," said Barry W. Mawn,
assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.'s New York office.
He also said the agents had intended to interview Ms. O'Connor soon
after they learned of the case, but did not, for reasons he did not
explain.
F.B.I. officials said investigators picked up the envelopes on Sept.
26, the day after NBC security officials called the agency. New York
City officials were not informed of the preliminary inquiry until
days later.
Indeed if the Health Department had not been alerted to the case by
a private doctor, it might well have hibernated in the F.B.I. files.
Mr. Mawn said yesterday that the agency had to investigate dozens of
threats, scares and false alarms, and that is how this case was
initially treated. Since Sept. 11, when the two planes slammed into
the World Trade Center, city and federal law enforcement officials
have received hundreds of reports of menace and foul play ranging
from bomb threats to chemical attack scares.
The discovery of a case of apparently deliberate anthrax poisoning
in the heart of New York City is just the latest in a string of
terrifying events that have challenged the law enforcement and
health care infrastructure in the last month. It pushed health care
officials to nail down a pathogen that most of them had no
experience with.
And it once again tested the fragile relationship that has always
existed between the New York City Police Department and the F.B.I.,
agencies that are forced to work in tandem on unprecedented and
constantly evolving crimes.
"Information sharing between the F.B.I. and the N.Y.P.D. has always
been poor," said one person who has worked closely with both
agencies. "There is often a lack of willingness on the F.B.I.'s part
to share information, although it is getting better. As they move
forward, clearly the F.B.I. is going to have to be more
forthcoming."
In this case, Mr. Mawn said, the gravity of the situation was not
fully appreciated by the federal authorities until recently.
On Sept. 25., Ms. O'Connor handled a letter postmarked from St.
Petersburg, Fla., filled with white powder, according to law
enforcement officials. She also handled a second letter containing a
sandy substance. Network officials, immediately suspicious, called
the F.B.I., which picked up the letters the next day.
Then, the agency began to prepare a cover letter for its own
laboratory indicating that the substances needed to be tested, but
the letter was never completed and the evidence was never sent from
the F.B.I.'s office in New York to its laboratory, said Joseph
Valiquette, an F.B.I. spokesman.
He added that some delays happened because investigators were unable
to interview Ms. O'Connor to supplement the cover letter. "We wanted
to send a complete package to the laboratory," said Mr. Valiquette.
So none of it was sent. Mr. Valiquette said he did not know why the
F.B.I. could not speak with Ms. O'Connor, who works in Rockefeller
Plaza and lives in the metropolitan area.
On Sept. 28, Ms. O'Connor developed a strange sore on her chest.
Nervous, she went to see Dr. Richard Fried, a Manhattan infectious
disease specialist, said Dr. Annetta Kimball, the doctor covering
for Dr. Fried, who could not be reached last night.
Armed with the description of the rash which she described as
central scarring surrounded by a lot of swelling the doctor likely
consulted his textbooks to nail down what was going on. Dr. Kimball
said that Dr. Fried suspected that his patient had been exposed to
anthrax, and immediately prescribed Cipro.
"There is a good chance he had never seen anthrax before," said Dr.
Kimball. "This is New York City, not an agricultural area." He also
took cultures from a wound Ms. O'Connor developed, but those swabs
were negative for anthrax, she said.
At some point, officials and Dr. Kimball said, the patient visited a
dermatologist.
One of those doctors notified the city's Health Department on Oct. 6
of a possible case of anthrax. The city has among the most
sophisticated epidemiologists and public health labs in the country.
Mr. Valiquette said that the F.B.I. learned from the city's Health
Department that "this was an issue." The substance eventually made
its way to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, which went to unusual lengths to identify it. There was
little powder to work with, and a power failure in the lab halted
the work for nearly a day, said Dr. James M. Hughes of the C.D.C.
"None of this ever did go to the F.B.I. lab," he said.
One of the Ms. O'Connor's doctors ordered a skin biopsy, which was
sent to the C.D.C. But by the time the tissue was taken, the patient
had begun taking an antibiotic to counter possible anthrax. As
intended, that drug degraded the cellular structure of the bacteria.
On Wednesday, the city was informed of the case under investigation.
The C.D.C. was able to identify the spores of anthrax, and officials
were informed of the results early yesterday morning.
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced the first confirmed case of
anthrax yesterday morning at NBC.
He was described by a person who was with him early yesterday as
being "three feet off the ground" when he learned that the F.B.I.
had not brought word of the developments to city officials earlier.
Mr. Mawn acknowledged that investigators revisited the case after
learning of the concerns of the health officials. "A second
notification came through to the Department of Health, at which time
the evidence response people and the F.B.I. also became involved
with it. It was initially assigned to two agents that just covered
the lead. And upon that, it was immediately submitted for tests. As
you know and as the mayor has talked about, those tests were
initially negative."
Yesterday, The New York Times received a letter filled with white
powder that was addressed to a reporter, Judith Miller. The Times
notified the mayor's office, and city and F.B.I. officials responded
immediately. Tests for radioactive and chemical substances were
negative, and results from a more definitive test for anthrax DNA by
state and federal labs were expected over the weekend.
Coordinating the efforts of the various law enforcement and public
health officials is proving tricky there have been dozens of bomb
and other threats around the city since Sept. 11, and the city,
which investigates each case, cannot inform the public or other
agencies about each one. Just yesterday, the city heard of about a
half dozen cases of suspicious powder or envelopes that it is
investigating, the mayor said.
"If there was a problem, it was in the way they first investigated
it," one Police Department official said of the F.B.I.'s
performance.
But there was some concern last night among health care experts
about the delay in the testing. The inability of the agency to
identify the substance was "not very comforting," said one C.D.C.
official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "That is a little
disappointing, to say the least."
Anthrax spores, if kept under appropriate conditions sealed and
unexposed to lots of light can be preserved for years, said Jerome
M. Hauer, the former director of the Office of Emergency Management
and currently managing director of Kroll Inc., an investigation
firm. He added: "You don't want them sitting around. In this
environment, you hope there is good information sharing, especially
when it involves biological agents."
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