Sweep of AMI building found anthrax in nearly 90 spots

The company was waiting for test results so the biohazard expert it hired could devise a plan to clean up the 68,000-square-foot building. Because the process is complex and anthrax cleanup of this size is unprecedented, it doesn't expect to start decontamination until after the new year.

The EPA sampling found the first floor held the most spores, specifically near the mailroom, library and security area. Investigators assume the germ showed up in a letter or letters, but a piece of tainted mail was never found.

Spores also were found on 10 carpet samples from the second-floor carpet and in eight spots on the third floor, where Sun editor Bob Stevens worked.

The EPA will give technical advice on the cleanup and has supplied AMI with a list of five environmental firms which have helped get rid of spores in post offices and other buildings infected by tainted mail.

But AMI, which publishes six supermarket tabloids including The National Enquirer, Globe and Weekly World News, is responsible for hiring and paying a contractor to rid its building of spores.

AMI has requested bids and is awaiting proposals from five contractors. The company also wants to wait for the outcome of the Hart Office Building fumigation in Washington, D.C., and results of studies on various cleanup methods.

Workers planned to fumigate Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's suite with chlorine dioxide gas Friday night. A tainted letter was sent to the South Dakota Democrat in October.

"That is one of the only other instances in which an entire office building has to be cleaned,'' said AMI spokesman Gerald McKelvey. "You have exposure building-wide. You have to find a way to clean up everything.''