Concern grows over Pentagon's handling of anthrax
WASHINGTON — Concern is growing on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon's problems containing live anthrax spores could extend to other lethal toxins that could be used as weapons against troops and civilians, members of Congress and their staff told USA TODAY.
The discovery of anthrax outside a containment area at the Army's Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah led the Pentagon to shut down work at nine of its laboratories that work on bioterror agents until procedures for handling them are deemed safe.
A joint statement from the chairman and ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., expressed alarm at the military's growing problem with anthrax and other so-called select agents, including viruses, toxins and bacteria.
"These repeated failures are eroding all confidence, and they have got to stop," the congressmen said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Our nation's bioterrorism response efforts are in jeopardy as we continue to uncover problems at select agent laboratories and critical research is halted. The Energy and Commerce Committee continues to take this investigation extremely seriously, and we will work together to address the root issues and identify a path forward."
Pentagon halts work with bioterror germs at 9 labs
The worry is that procedures that did not contain anthrax won't prevent the escape of other toxins the labs study, said a senior Capitol Hill staffer who studies the issue but spoke on condition of anonymity because staff members are not authorized to speak publicly about it. Those toxins include chemical and biological agents the military fears could be turned into a weapon.
The live anthrax found at Dugway indicates the military has a systematic problem keeping its most deadly toxins contained, the staffer said. Initial indications show anthrax escaped because the procedures and safeguards in place were not adequate to contain it — not through sloppy lab workers.
The result has been a widening scope of potential contamination. The more deeply investigators look into the anthrax issue, the more problems they find, said a senior Defense official familiar with the military's investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to talk publicly about it.
The Army said it will work closely with Congress to address the issues.
"In order to ensure that proper procedures are followed, the Army directed an immediate safety review for all labs," said Col. David Doherty, an Army spokesman. "As part of this safety review, labs will ensure that appropriate protocol is followed in the handling of these materials, including proper training, record-keeping, and standard operating procedures."
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No illnesses or deaths have been linked to the improper anthrax shipments. Military officials maintain that the live samples have been at such low concentrations and have been packaged in ways that expose the public to little or no risk.
Early in the summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Dugway had inadvertently sent live anthrax to labs across the country and to several foreign countries for 10 years. The mistake was discovered in May, and several government investigations launched.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work branded the botched handling of anthrax "a massive institutional failure." His report on the issue is likely next month.
The concern is that the scope of the anthrax problem could be even larger and that other toxins may have escaped containment, the staffer said.
Halting the laboratories' work carries risk, too, as Upton and Pallone noted. The research into deadly agents is conducted to save troops' lives from biological and chemical attack.