Posted on 10/22/2001 2:32:16 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Anthrax arrives; sense of safety fades
BY RICHARD BRAND
Special to the Herald
EWING, N.J. -- In this middle-class neighborhood of New England-style homes, sprawling soccer fields and Delaware River views, residents say their sense of security is fading faster than the autumn leaves.
They have reason to be worried: The woman who has carried their mail for at least three years is one of two New Jersey postal employees with a potentially deadly anthrax infection.
And at least 150 FBI agents have descended on her route, underscoring the importance the agency has attached to anthrax victim Teresa Heller's postal circuit in their effort to trace the origins of several anthrax-laced letters that were postmarked Trenton and sent to NBC News, the New York Post and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office.
Along Lower Ferry Road, where Heller walked door to door to deliver mail, residents say they're glad the FBI got a break in the case but wish the problem originated somewhere else -- very far away.
``I'm worried for my own safety. That's my mail woman that's sick,'' said Abelardo Conesa, 34, an accountant who lives in a white house along Heller's route.
``It's scary that we've become the center of all of this. It's like we live on Anthrax Street.''
Ewing, in Central New Jersey, is full of people who work in government offices in nearby Trenton, the state capital, and is also close to several biotechnology companies in the U.S. 1 corridor.
On Sunday morning, a dark-suited FBI agent stopped by Conesa's house for a six-minute interview. When approached by a reporter, the agent said he was based at the agency's Philadelphia office, but he would not give his name.
``Obviously we're here because of the anthrax investigation and because the victim worked here,'' he said.
Authorities don't know how Heller was exposed. Her route serves about 500 addresses that include single-family homes, at least three apartment buildings and a handful of businesses.
Conesa and others said the agent asked about the education and professions of their neighbors and whether they've seen anything out of the ordinary. They weren't sure why they were asked those questions, and federal agents aren't commenting.
Many people who live on Lower Ferry Road are taking precautions to keep safe.
Dawn Crutchley wraps her mail in a plastic bag before sifting through it on the back porch.
Jocelyn Robbins, 31, bought a brand new mailbox and placed it atop a five-foot pole so her sons Kyle, 3, and Damien, 2, can't reach it. ``I don't want them touching the mail,'' Robbins said.
Robbins said she missed Heller, whom she described as ``professional,'' ``athletic,'' and having a ``wonderful personality.''
Harold Falk, 40, won't let his daughter Sarah go trick-or-treating this Halloween.
``It's scary enough worrying about razor blades in her candy. I doubt anyone's baking anthrax cookies, but this might not be the best year for her to meet the neighbors.''
Falk is also trying to get neighbors together to patrol ``high-risk'' areas such as a nearby reservoir.
``We don't know what's safe,'' Falk said.
For Education And Discussion Only. Not For Commercial Use.
I'd like to ask all who read this to take this link:
Nuclear, Biological, & Chemical Warfare- Survival Skills, Pt. II
and spread it via the Web as far & wide as they can- to forums & boards & email lists & chat rooms.
The creeps using this stuff want to paralyze everyone with fear, and the Jackal Pack Press is helping them do it! Resist, durn it!
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