COLUMBIA -- The U.S. Postal Service did not follow its own guidelines designed to protect the public and workers when an envelope containing the deadly poison ricin was discovered at a Greenville airmail facility in October 2003, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported Monday.
The envelope containing the vial was moved several times, workers were allowed to return to the area where the letter was found, and officials did not contact law enforcement or emergency officials for 13 hours, the GAO, the watchdog arm of Congress, reported.
One postal supervisor thought ricin -- a substance more deadly than nerve gas -- was rat poison, according to the report.
The delay in reporting the discovery slowed actions by state and federal agencies to protect the public. Those steps included testing the toxin to verify it was lethal, monitoring the health of workers and anyone possibly exposed, launching an investigation into who delivered the package and informing workers, health officials and the public, the GAO said.
The agency recommended the Postal Service develop better training and update its guidelines on what workers should do if they come across mail that might be both suspicious and contain hazardous materials.