Hillel Evacuated After Anthrax Scare

Harvard Hillel’s Rosovsky Hall was evacuated and two of its employees were sent to the hospital yesterday after one of the employees found a white powder while opening a package in the mail around 2 p.m.

University spokesperson Joe Wrinn confirmed that both employees were released from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

At the time of the scare, the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and its Environmental Health and Safety Team immediately sealed off and decontaminated the building.

The building remained sealed with police tape until just before 9 p.m. yesterday evening.

The Cambridge Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team (HAZMAT), which also responded to the scene, performed an “on-scene” assessment of the package, according to HUPD spokesperson Steve Catalano.

Catalano said that the package was deemed suspicious enough to be confiscated by HAZMAT.

“There was a residue in the piece of mail,” Catalano said.

Captain Larry Feranzi, spokesperson for HAZMAT, said that by the time members of his team arrived at Hillel, there was no powder visible.

The package was nevertheless taken to the Massachusetts State Laboratory in Jamaica Plain for analysis.

The results of anthrax tests on the package are expected today.

Two Hillel employees, including the one who reported the powder, were taken to Mount Auburn Hospital as a result of their potential exposure to anthrax.

Neither employee could be reached for comment, and Wrinn said he had no direct knowledge of their conditions.

He said, however, that it is unlikely they tested positive for anthrax exposure because the news would have spread outside the Cambridge community.

“There was various testing at Hillel and at the hospital,” Wrinn said. “If there had been a problem, a lot of other agencies would have been contacted, but we haven’t been told that they were.”

Although Harvard and Cambridge officials took safety precautions yesterday, Feranzi indicated that the incident may turn out to be a false alarm.

“There have been a bunch of cases [anthrax scares] at Harvard in the last few days,” Feranzi said. “But this is still on high priority.”

So far, no Cambridge mail has tested positive for anthrax.

As a result of the anthrax threat, Hillel canceled all activities scheduled yesteday in Rosovsky Hall.

In an e-mail message sent last night, Hillel administrators said that the building would remain closed until further notice, and that they were looking for a different location for tonight’s sabbath dinner.

—Staff writer Alex B. Ginsberg can be reached at ginsberg@fas.harvard.edu.