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POSTAL
SERVICE CONCEDES ERRORS IN HANDLING SUSPICIOUS LETTER
AT HARTFORD FACILITY
“No Employees Were Actually Placed at Risk”
January
15, 2003
WASHINGTON - Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe
Lieberman, D-Conn., Wednesday released a letter from the
postmaster general in which the postmaster admits error in the
handling of a suspicious letter at a Hartford postal facility on
November 19, 2002.
Postmaster General John Potter told Lieberman that postal
service procedures for “a suspicious powder incident” were
violated and the supervisor involved has been disciplined.
“I recognize the seriousness of this occurrence, and I
am grateful no employees were actually placed at risk,” Potter
wrote. “Safety of
postal employees will always be our foremost concern and we have
moved quickly to ensure future adherence to proper
procedures.”
Michael
Berghuis, president
of the American Postal Workers Union, Hartford CT Local 147, had
contacted Lieberman last year about the incident at the Hartford
Processing and Distribution center, which involved a letter with
the following message inscribed on the envelope: “To anyone
who wants anthrax have a nice day.”
Berghuis reported, among other things, that the letter
had been transported by hand through the postal facility.
In October 2001, Lieberman held two days of hearings on the subject of protecting the public and postal service employees from terrorism through the
mail.
Lieberman wrote to Potter, December 2, 2002 seeking an accounting of the Hartford incident.
In his response, Potter said the supervisor “placed the
letter in a tray and brought it to the Postal Police Office. He
did not consider this was a suspicious powder piece, but rather
a written threat letter.”
To read Potter’s letter, and Lieberman’s original
request for information, please click on the following links.
Letter
from Postmaster General
Letter
from Senator Lieberman
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