By jennifer dome
Staff Writer
SOUTH RIVER –– The U.S. Postal Service’s conducted testing yesterday for anthrax spores at its interim distribution center on Brick Plant Road.
The testing was part of an ongoing series of evaluations at several area postal centers initiated since a small amount of anthrax was found in a mailbox in Princeton last week.
The South River distribution center was tested because it is part of the network that may have handled the mail, according to postal service spokeswoman Diane Todd.
"We’re doing it completely as a precautionary measure," Todd said.
Testing was conducted at the postal service’s Eatontown and Edison distribution centers on Sunday, Todd said. The Princeton post office in West Windsor, as well as a facility in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, were also expected to be tested.
According to Todd, regular postal operations at the South River distribution center continued on Wednesday, as the testing was only being done as a precautionary measure. The samples were being taken during off-peak hours, Todd said.
There have been no reports of any anthrax-related illness since the trace of anthrax was discovered in the Princeton mailbox, Todd said.
She also stated that there was no delay expected in mail services as a result of the testing.
Once the samples are taken, it takes about 72 hours for the results to come back, she said.
The distribution center in South River formerly was used to distribute supplies to all post offices east of the Mississippi River, but was closed in recent years. The facility was no longer needed after supplies centers were consolidated into one facility in Topeka, Kansas.
The facility was reopened in November after anthrax was discovered at the U.S. Postal Processing and Distribution Center on Route 130 south in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, resulting in that facility’s closure.
Postal workers from the Hamilton center were relocated to South River, Eatontown and the Edison postal processing and distribution centers after the Hamilton facility closed on Oct. 18. Some of those employees were being moved into a new temporary facility located in Monroe, and will remain there until decontamination procedures are complete at the Hamilton facility.

