Lake may be drained in anthrax investigation
A Maryland lake may be drained after US agents suggested it may have been the site where anthrax sent in the mail in 2001 was assembled or where evidence was dumped.
The FBI is considering draining a spring-fed lake that is up to an acre in size and 10 feet deep in Frederick Municipal Forest, said local mayor Jennifer Dougherty.
The plan stems from a new FBI theory that the person behind the anthrax attacks could have packed the deadly spores into envelopes under water without being infected or leaving traces on open land.
The theory is based on evidence recovered from the lake this past winter, the Washington Post reported, citing sources close to the investigation.
The attacks, 19 months ago, killed five people and sickened 13 others.
The lake findings offer physical evidence in a case that so far has been built almost exclusively on circumstantial clues.
Two sources familiar with the items recovered from the lake described a clear box, with holes that could accommodate gloves to protect the user during work, the Post reported.
So-called glove boxes are commonly used to handle dangerous pathogens. Also recovered were vials wrapped in plastic.
For protection against airborne bacteria, a person could put envelopes and secured anthrax powder into the box, then wade into shallow water and submerge it to put the bacteria inside the envelopes - this is what some involved in the case believe, the Post said.
Afterward, the envelopes could have been sealed in plastic bags before being removed from the underwater chamber.
Other sources told the newspaper the work could have been done on land and the materials discarded in the pond.
Sources close to the case told the Post that the discovery was so compelling that the FBI now plans to drain the lake of thousands of gallons of water for a detailed search this summer.
Some investigators said the water theory is the result of the FBI’s interest in Steven Hatfill, a doctor and bioterrorism expert who formerly worked as a researcher at the US army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Frederick.
That facility is the primary custodian of the strain of anthrax found in the envelopes sent to the victims.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has described Hatfill as ”a person of interest” in the investigation.
Hatfill used to live about eight miles from the lake.
His lawyer, Thomas Connolly, called the water theory “far-fetched.” He said Hatfill had nothing to do with the anthrax crimes.
