They had to. The rodents had been scurrying inside the quarantined Brentwood Mail Facility. Though rodents don’t die from anthrax, they can carry it. For weeks Hazmat crews had been snaring the rats and cleansing them with an HEPA system. And they did it on a sunny day because the burning rays of the hot sun on any escaping spores provided a natural safety net. Ultraviolet rays vaporized many of the pathogens. Rodent control was only one of sixty-nine different san- itization procedures the cleanup teams had put in place, in- cluding sampling, gas fumigation, HEPA filtration, andbleach disinfectant. They removed dust, equipment, heating and air-conditioning filters, and debris. Since the previous October, when tainted letters bound for Capitol Hill left spores behind in the Brentwood facility and forced the mail hub’s closure, the contractors and EPA had conducted daily tests. Ten thousand samples told them contamination still swarmed inside. Resurrecting Brentwood would be the most ambitious and intricate fumigation ever attempted of any biohazardous building in the nation’s history.The cleanup required flawless coordination and perfect execution.
