High rise dorm closed during anthrax scare

A "suspicious substance" prompted the closure of Harrison College House for about 30 minutes yesterday as University Police responded to yet another anthrax scare on campus.

The University's rapid assessment team responded around noon after employees noticed white powder in the mailroom of Harrison, located at 3910 Irving St.

"The police were called over there because mailroom employees saw a very small amount of unknown white powder," University spokesman Ron Ozio said. "They didn't know from what package the powder came from and we still don't know."

Per protocol, University Police also called the Philadelphia Police Department's rapid assessment team. City emergency officials sent a sample of the powder to a Pennsylvania Department of Health laboratory for testing.

Penn Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush stressed that yesterday's incident did not place the public in any danger.

"A suspicious substance appeared in an area where someone was working and police were called," Rush said. "To this date, there has been no credible anthrax situation on campus or in the city."

At least 45 anthrax scares have been reported around campus in the past month, with suspicious powders found in areas ranging from the Ivy Grille to the Graduate Student Center on Locust Walk. None of these cases have proved to be credible threats, but Rush said that the police are still approaching each incident with caution.

"We've done a lot of training in the wake of September 11," Rush said. "As a result of that people are taking every precaution."

And Ozio said members of the Penn community who notice anything suspicious should still contact the proper authorities.

"If they're concerned, we want to show respect for their concern," Ozio said, noting that, despite the fact that anthrax has yet to be found in any case here, University officials urge the community to stay vigilant. "We're just trying to be safe."

"The protocol they followed today is just standard operating procedure for us and I'm sure for everybody else in the country right now," Ozio added.

Yesterday's incident was similar to one last week, when emergency officials removed a letter from the McNeil Building that may have come in contact with anthrax at its point of origin in Washington.

The potentially contaminated letter, received at the University last Monday, was sent from a Department of Agriculture facility where traces of anthrax have been found.

In that incident, rapid assessment teams from both the University and Philadelphia responded and the letter was sent for testing.

The results from the tests have not been released, a situation Rush found reassuring.

"We don't hear from them unless anthrax has been found," Rush said. "No news in this case is good news."

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