Final Senate Office Reopens
The last of three closed Senate office buildings reopened Monday, a week after discovery of poisonous ricin powder in the majority leader's mail room.
The Dirksen Senate Office Building, which opened its doors Monday morning, is where the substance was found last Monday night in an office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. Though contact with the substance is potentially fatal, Senate officials have said none of the dozens of people who were in the vicinity have reported taking ill.
"All Senate office buildings were thoroughly inspected, sampled and declared safe for entry after consulting with environmental and medical professionals," said a brochure that aides were handed as they entered the building for work Monday.
The Hart and Russell Senate office buildings, which are on either side of Dirksen, had reopened last Thursday. All are across the street from the main U.S. Capitol building.
Authorities say they still do not know where the ricin in Frist's office came from.
According to the leaflet, of 1,300 air and surface samples that were collected and tested, "only a few" taken from Frist's office confirmed positive for ricin. Officials are continuing to test fresh samples, the paper said.
The reopening of Dirksen was not without jitters, as was the case when the other buildings opened last week. Police responded to at least two reports of powdery substances in the Dirksen building and one in Capitol rotunda, though by late morning none had tested positive.
Parts of Frist's fourth-floor suite, including the mailroom, remained closed Monday for cleanup. Frist spokesman Nick Smith said the process might take two additional weeks.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer spoke to aides in Frist's office Monday morning, reassuring them that the office is safe, Smith said.
washingtonpost.com
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