2003 Winning Projects                                                                              

 Capital Hill Anthrax Response
Washington, DC

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

ENTRANT: CDM
ENGINEER IN CHARGE: Jonathan G. Curtis, P.E.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Background
On October 15, 2001, aides to Senator Tom Daschle opened an anthrax-filled envelope at the Hart Senate Office Building (HSOB) in Washington, D.C., releasing billions of anthrax spores into the office. The attack exposed 23 people to deadly anthrax bacteria and killed two postal workers. CDM was called upon to assist the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III (EPA) in the management of the landmark effort to assess and eliminate the anthrax contamination. Providing sampling and technical support to the EPA in the massive decontamination effort, CDM was responsible for all activities associated with testing bacteriologically infused media (known as spore strips) as surrogates for anthrax spores, thereby validating treatment effectiveness.

COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED APPROACH

“CDM has done an excellent job on a very key aspect of the
decontamination effort. If the spore strips had been contaminated through gross handling—or otherwise compromised—millions of dollars of work would have been for naught. They will have handled close to 30,000 spore strips by the end of our activities, nearly flawlessly.” —  S. Fredericks, EPA Site, Science Coordinator

• Sampling program validated anthrax eradication: The sampling results were used to determine that the deadly anthrax bacteria had been eradicated from the building and its contents.
• Degassing protected against toxic gas: Foreseeing possible hazards from the toxic ethylene oxide used to decontaminate the critical items removed from offices, the CDM team ensured adequate degassing of these items so that HSOB occupants would not be harmed upon receipt of their fumigated personal property.
• Preventative antibiotics and personnel protection safeguarded workers from anthrax spread: The CDM team assessed the hazards and took the necessary steps to protect workers. All of the CDM staff — who volunteered for this assignment — were subjected to a physical exam, prescribed preventative antibiotics, provided with extensive respiratory and safety equipment, and frequently monitored.

QUALITY

“The Capitol Hill Anthrax technical work received an outstanding rating.”—  EPA Region III Performance Board

• HSOB reopened and public’s confidence restored: The CDM team successfully handled close to 30,000 spore strips that validated chlorine dioxide  and ethylene oxide efficacy in killing anthrax spores. This expedited the building’s reopening and helped to ensure the safety of HSOB employees.
• Rapid mobilization of resources kept pace with EPA’s changing needs: CDM provided EPA with trained staff working 12-hour shifts, 7 days per week, in a cohesive team with EPA’s on-scene coordinators, the U.S. Capitol Police, federal experts, and other emergency support and remediation contractors. The CDM team delivered 23,500 hours of work under extremely hazardous conditions without an OSHA-recordable incident.
• Continual process refinement delivered cost savings: CDM completed the work for 80 percent of the projected costs—saving taxpayer money—by continually refining the newly developed process to maximize efficiency.
• Expert performance exceeds client expectations: CDM’s performance earned an “outstanding” rating from EPA—the highest possible designation.

ORIGINALITY AND INNOVATION

“CDM team staff worked to develop a procedure for spore strip placement, removal, tracking, shipping, and critical item tagging.” — EPA Region III Performance Board

• Developed new methods to address biological threats: In the absence of any proven method, CDM worked closely with EPA and other technical experts to plan the spore strip testing to assess the effectiveness of chlorine dioxide and ethylene oxide in killing anthrax spores. This resulted in a precedent-setting approach that was later adopted as an EPA protocol, which will enable the U.S. to respond safely and effectively to future biological threats.
• Invented solutions for toxic gas hazards: CDM planned and implemented a procedure to degas the critical items following ethylene oxide fumigation. This included designing and operating a degassing facility, as well as pilot testing and optimizing procedures for sampling the items to ensure effective degassing.

COMPLEXITY

“CDM’s resource utilization, schedule and cost controls, effort and communication throughout the performance of this high profile response action were outstanding.” — EPA Region III Performance Board

For this unprecedented project, EPA and the CDM team had to address intimidating challenges: billions of deadly spores, toxic gases, 95-degree temperatures in the unventilated HSOB, and 75 percent humidity due to the steam introduced to increase chlorine dioxide efficacy. Moreover, chlorine dioxide was at the time an unproven solution for anthrax decontamination. CDM overcame these complex challenges and delivered total solutions, which included:

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT

“I feel completely safe. I think we’ve done everything possible to remediate this building and I believe it has been a complete success.” — Senator T. Daschle, HSOB

• Provided emergency response to homeland security crisis: The CDM team performed under a media microscope within aggressive timeframes to restore public confidence in our country’s ability to function during crisis, and to return the Capitol to normal.
• Developed procedure for future decontamination operations: CDM worked closely with EPA, national scientific experts, and other contractors to develop cautious plans and painstaking procedures, resulting in a first-of-its-kind approach to prepare, place, collect, track, and test spore strips to validate the effectiveness of anthrax decontamination techniques.
• Fast, thorough action restored operations: HSOB staff received their decontaminated personal belongings (critical items) back in a timely manner, which helped alleviate the sense of personal violation they had endured.
• Careful approach ensured safety of all: The HSOB was reopened in a timely fashion with no safety incidents for HSOB staff, remediation workers, or the surrounding neighborhood.