This article about anthrax contamination at the Brentwood mail-processing facility in Northeast Washington incorrectly said that Larry Powell was among the workers who took antibiotics in the aftermath. Powell chose not to take the antibiotics.
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Postal Workers Go Without Answers
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Among the injured is Leroy Richmond, 64, who had worked as a safety captain at the facility. He suffered lung injuries and short-term memory loss caused by anthrax spores. He is unable to play basketball with his son, now 13. He cannot ride his bicycle. He can no longer work.
Richmond said he hears from several current and former workers about once a month. They want to know how he is doing. He said he often thinks about the job, where he spent 34 years -- and his friends, Curseen and Morris, the men who died. Curseen was his prayer partner, Richmond said, and Morris his pinochle partner.
He said a co-worker told him about the deaths while he was in the hospital. "She said: 'I have some sad news. I left the funeral of one of your friends,' " he recalled. Then she handed him Curseen's obituary. Richmond said he cried. "I couldn't breathe. I thought, 'My God, I'm going to be next.' "
Richmond's wife, Susan, who had worked at Brentwood, requested a transfer to another postal facility. "They sent her a letter saying she had to return to the building," he said. "She went into hysteria. She said she could not work there again."
Larry Powell, 59, worked at the Brentwood facility during the contamination. He and other workers were required to take antibiotics in the aftermath. Powell, who since then has worked at four other facilities, might be reassigned to Brentwood.
He said he feels "let down" by managers who did not tell workers about contamination risks. "All you had to do is put the information out there," he said. "Don't let me walk down that road and see what's happening when you already know something bad is down there."
Ray Robinson was among the workers who decided to return to Brentwood, mainly because the Postal Service could not guarantee that he would be able to keep his night shift if he went elsewhere.
The facility is now equipped with a system that is supposed to detect anthrax and other hazards in the mail.
Still, workers are much more aggressive about calling safety issues to management's attention, Robinson said. "They speak out more," he said. "They don't just take management's word."
"Management at least entertains safety issues a lot better than before," said Robinson, 44, an automations clerk. "They do listen to problems instead of saying, 'Go back to work,' like they used to."
