GREENVILLE - Some people are upset that the public didn't learn about a package containing a vial of the deadly poison ricin until a week after it was discovered at a Greenville postal facility.

Federal and state authorities say it's difficult to tell the public about suspicious package calls because many times they are hoaxes.

"We didn't know anything," said Postal Service spokesman Gerry McKierna. "We isolated the package. Until we knew the results, there wasn't anything to say."

Postal Service officials have said the public was not told because there was no leak from the package and thus no danger to the public.

U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint said he was concerned about how long it took to test the contents of the package.

"My concern is that, at the local and state level, ... we may not have the technical capability to quickly review and analyze contents of materials, and I think that's the question here," said DeMint, R-S.C., a candidate for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C.

A Greenville County sheriff's deputy picked up the package from the post office then took it in his squad car to an FBI agent who was traveling between Greenville and Columbia, Sheriff Steve Loftis said.

The FBI agent then gave it to the State Law Enforcement Division, which tested the package to be sure the vial was not leaking, authorities said.

The vial was kept at the Department of Health and Environmental Control during the weekend and then sent by Federal Express to the Centers for Disease Control, said U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

The Democratic presidential candidate said the incident was troubling and called for an investigation by the General Accounting Office.

"Have we learned nothing from the anthrax attacks of two years ago?" Lieberman said of the attacks where five people died and a Maryland postal facility still hasn't reopened because of contamination. "By now, it should be second nature for the Postal Service to protect the health of its employees and for law enforcement and public health agencies to move as quickly as possible."

Postal Service spokesman Mark Saunders said late Friday the service will meet with Lieberman next week.

The sorting facility was not closed until a week after the package was found Oct. 15. It has since reopened.

"Do we know there hasn't been something else that's come through?" asked Alberta Colley, 42, who works at New South Communications in downtown Greenville. "Officials have a responsibility to tell us."

Loftis said deputies did not know whether the package was a hoax. He said his office found out the substance was ricin hours before the public did.

When anthrax scares were publicized, deputies received more than 200 calls "out of panic," he said. "It's not like we were trying to keep it secret," he said. "We just wanted to be sure we knew what we were talking about."

Bruce Ransom, chairman of policy studies at Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute, said authorities have to weigh concerns. "On one hand there is concern about public safety," he said. "But you don't want to create a panic."