Homeland-security funding enabled purchase of the $150,000 machine

By DAMIAN MANN
Mail Tribune

Medford’s postal distribution center is now armed with a sophisticated detector that sniffs out any anthrax that might be slipped into the 100,000 pieces of mail processed daily.

If anthrax is detected, postal plant manager Randall Sparks said, the machine automatically contacts Sparks’ BlackBerry communication device and notifies the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"They’ve got a special unit out of Portland that would be here in two hours," he said. "The whole place will be considered a hot zone by our first providers."

The machine, built by Northrop Grumman Corp. and costing about $150,000, is being funded through a federal homeland-security grant.

Advertisement

In October 2001, two postal workers at the center that processes mail for Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., died after inhaling anthrax spores.

Anthrax-laced mail also went to members of the media in New York and Florida. The deadly white powder ricin was found in the office of Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., in 2004.

After the anthrax attacks, the Postal Service looked for a solution to prevent further attacks, leading to the purchase of specialized equipment such as this detector .

As letters pass through the sorting machine, the detector takes continuous air samples, processes them through a DNA sequencer, and automatically stops the system and sets off an alarm if anthrax is detected.

Robotic arms, computers and sterile water make up some of the elements in a machine that’s about the size of an office copier.

Sparks said the detector helps minimize risk to the 100 employees who work in the distribution center on Sage Road and helps prevent dissemination of letters that have anthrax to the residents of Jackson and Josephine counties.

The machine will be put to the test during the Christmas holiday period when up to 300,000 letters are processed daily at the distribution center.

During summer 2003, the detection system was tested in 15 sites in the United States.

Detectors already have been installed in Portland, Salem, Eugene and Bend and other cities throughout the country.

Sparks said the distribution center also recently installed a filtration system that collects dust produced during the sorting process, which would help minimize the potential spread of anthrax that might have become airborne.

While the detector is designed to check for anthrax, Sparks said he expects software upgrades in the future that will test for other substances.

Jerry Robertson, an electrical technician at the plant, said Medford is one of the last places to receive one of the detectors, which have been field-tested extensively.

"All the ones installed across the country have never had a false positive (reading)," he said.

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com