Agents with the FBI's hazardous-materials response unit remove suspicious biological material from a College Street home Thursday.
Posted on 05/14/2004 8:28:53 AM PDT by knak
An Allentown street was closed off for more than eight hours Thursday as hazardous-materials teams from the FBI searched a University at Buffalo art professor's home and seized suspected biological agents.
The College Street home of Steven Kurtz, an artist and associate professor in UB's art department, aroused suspicions after Buffalo police went there about 1 p.m. Tuesday to investigate the death of Kurtz's wife, Zell, 45.
Kurtz told dispatchers he found his wife unconscious and not breathing in bed. His wife was dead when emergency crews and police arrived.
Authorities said they suspect the death had nothing to do with materials inside the house. It appears she died of heart failure, officials said.
But what they found inside the house raised red flags, officials said.
"The first responders noted what appeared to be hazardous materials inside," said Paul Moskal, special agent for the FBI.
Moskal said they are unsure what the materials are but believe they are some type of biological agents or bacteria.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force was contacted immediately.
Kurtz told authorities the biological agents he was cultivating in the house were being used for his artwork and agreed to let authorities search the house.
Wednesday evening, Kurtz was taken out to dinner by the FBI and put up in a hotel overnight. He has not been charged.
"He's been cooperative and helpful to the investigation. He told us what he knew to be there and what we could expect to find there," Moskal said.
Federal authorities consulted with Erie County Medical Center, the state Department of Health, and FBI chemical and biological experts, and obtained a sealed search warrant for the house early Thursday morning. They began executing the warrant at about noon.
College Street was cordoned off from Maryland to Allen streets as agents from the FBI's hazardous-materials teams from Pittsburgh and Quantico, Va., began their search. The agents wore white biohazard suits with masks, headgear and breathing devices, along with orange rubber boots, as they searched the house and collected material.
Hazmat crews from the Buffalo Fire Department were stationed outside the house and helped decontaminate federal agents as they emerged.
"Until they do the testing, they don't know what they have. We're handling this as the real thing until proven otherwise," said Maureen Dempsey, an FBI spokeswoman.
"We don't believe it's anything that poses a danger outside of the house," Moskal said.
One agent Kurtz is believed to use in his artwork is a strain of E. coli, according to a 2002 article published about the Critical Arts Ensemble, an artistic group that Kurtz helped found.
Further investigation is continuing.
Kurtz was not at the house Thursday evening. The FBI will await laboratory findings on the agents before deciding whether criminal charges will be levied. That could take a few days or up to several weeks.
The search was called off for the night at about 8:30. A Buffalo police cruiser and officer kept watch over the scene overnight. Agents were expected to return and continue their search this morning.
Agents with the FBI's hazardous-materials response unit remove suspicious biological material from a College Street home Thursday.
e. Coli? Oh Sh*t alert!
One agent Kurtz is believed to use in his artwork is a strain of E. coli, according to a 2002 article published about the Critical Arts Ensemble, an artistic group that Kurtz helped found.
Artwork that can kill you?
He's an artist with biological materials for art purposes? Are paintings of bacteria in high demand or something?
More $hit from the art community.
Prairie
No doubt funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Ironic, wouldn't that be. Muslim fanatics using our smut art our funding against us.
e coli?
Well, no wonder I never mix that exact shade of orange.
e. coli in artwork? What is this guy thinking? Put him away for his own good and for society's protection.
(I guess an art review that says his work looks like s___ would be taken as a compliment.)
If E. Coli is a hazardous material, then shouldn't the entire human population be quarantined?
I didn't know throwing your feces at the wall was now considered art. How out of touch I am.
ROTFLOL!!!
E. coli may be a stupid idea for an art medium, but it's only hazardous if ingested. Surely he had something more dangerous to justify all this upheaval.
I better get that bathroom cleaned up. I could be in serious trouble!
The vast majority of e. coli is harmless.
This is the ttpe of $hit that the NEA encourages...using E.Coli in "physical contructions" and calling them "art"...geez.
This POS does not deserve to be breathing my air.
I think it's the promotion of the hazmat mentality and industry at work here. There's good tax money to be had here.
My homeschool teenagers and I are ROTFL at that!!
"More $hit from the art community".
Literally!
If you clean your bathroom, you will be destroying "art".
Let's just say I'm not much of an artist.
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