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Article published Oct 24, 2003
City raises water alert following ricin threat
ROBERT W. DALTON
Staff Writer
Graham Rich was watching
television Wednesday evening when he learned that a package that contained ricin
and a letter threatening to dump the poison in the water supply had been found
at a Greenville postal distribution center.Rich, general manager of the
Spartanburg Water System, did not receive official notification of the threat
until Thursday. The official word came from the FBI and the state Department of
Health and Environmental Control, Rich said.DHEC Public Information Director Jim
Beasley said he learned of the threat Tuesday night and that his agency spent
the day Thursday alerting water systems and utilities across the state. He
declined to say why the alerts were not issued Wednesday, citing the ongoing
investigation."Obviously there are a number of issues in play here that
officials have to deal with," Rich said. "I'm not going to second-guess them one
way or the other. I'm sure there were compelling reasons for not contacting
us."The water system has been on a heightened alert since Wednesday evening,
Rich said. Being at a heightened alert means the water system has increased its
monitoring and patrols. The system has been on a heightened alert a number of
times since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."Unfortunately this is now
the arena we operate in, and I don't see this changing," Rich said. "From time
to time issues will come up and we have to address them accordingly."FBI
spokeswoman Kathleen Murphy and State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert
Stewart said they couldn't comment on the investigation, other than to say it
was continuing.The package was found Oct. 15 at a Greenville postal distribution
center on Brozzini Court, near Pelham Road. Mail that arrives by airplane at
Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is sorted there, but GSP
spokeswoman Rosylin Weston said Thursday that the package was never on airport
property.The warning "caution - Ricin -- poison" was typewritten on the
envelope, according to a news release from the Greenville County Sheriff's
Office. The envelope did not have a postmark or return address.The poison was
contained in a small, waterproof metal container inside the envelope. A note
warning that large quantities would be dumped into the nation's water supply if
the federal government didn't reverse a rule requiring truckers to rest after 10
hours of driving also was found.Officials confirmed Tuesday that the substance
in the container was ricin.A team from the Centers for Disease Control began
collecting environmental samples at the facility late Wednesday and continued
Thursday, according to CDC spokesman Llelwyn Grant.Specimens were sent to the
CDC lab in Atlanta for testing, and results came back negative late Thursday,
Stewart said.U.S. Postal Service spokesman Gerry McKiernan said the center would
reopen at 4 p.m. today.Ricin, which is derived from castor beans, can be deadly
in very small quantities. But officials said it would be extremely difficult to
carry out the threat issued in the letter because it would require thousands of
pounds to contaminate water supplies