WASHINGTON — The Army has created a team of medical and other military experts to review security measures at the research laboratory where the scientist linked to the anthrax mailings worked.
Army Secretary Pete Geren has asked at least a dozen military and civilian officials to scrutinize safety procedures, quality controls and other policies and practices at the biodefense lab at Fort Detrick, Md., Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Friday.
To date, the Army has offered no explanation for how its biosecurity system, which is set up to catch mentally troubled workers, failed to flag scientist Bruce Ivins for years. Ivins, the microbiologist accused of sending anthrax-laced letters in 2001 that killed five people, committed suicide July 29 as the FBI began closing in on him.
Boyce said the team, which is only now being formed, is not targeting individuals but instead will review documents, procedures and other safety measures to ensure security at the lab.
The Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has come under intense public scrutiny as more details have spilled out about therapists’ concerns that in recent years Ivins had become paranoid, delusional and bent on violence.
Army officials have stressed that safety procedures at the lab have included ongoing personnel evaluations, which rely largely on employee self-reporting of medical or criminal problems and observations by other workers and supervisors.
