Military mail sensors detect anthrax

WASHINGTON – Sensors at two military mail facilities in the Washington area detected signs of anthrax on two pieces of mail Monday, but Pentagon officials said the mail already was irradiated, rendering any anthrax inert.

Officials weren’t sure if this was an attack. Additional tests and other sensors at the two facilities, one of them at the Pentagon and the other nearby, found no presence of the bacteria, which can be used as a biological weapon.

There were no initial reports of illness.

The Pentagon’s mail delivery site, which is separate from the main Pentagon building, was evacuated and shut down Monday after sensors triggered an alarm around 10:30 a.m. EST, spokesman Glenn Flood said. It was expected to remain closed until at least today while the investigation continued.

Hours later, sensors at the second Defense Department mailroom were triggered.

Firefighters reported that a military mailroom had been shut down after a hazardous-material alert.

No one was allowed to leave a high-rise complex that houses the facility until mid-evening Monday.