The first of three U.S. Senate office buildings closed because of a ricin scare
will open Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced progress in decontamination efforts
at the Dirksen Senate office building, where the toxin ricin was found Monday.
That facility will not open until next Monday, but another building closed
as a precaution will reopen Thursday, and a third on Friday.
Law enforcement officials are investigating whether the ricin, which can
be lethal if inhaled in great quantities, is linked to the same poison found
in letters at postal facilities that serve the White House and a South Carolina
airport in November.
The ricin on Capitol Hill was found in a mailroom of Senator Frist's office.
Although investigators have not linked the incident to terrorism, Senator Frist
said it was aimed to terrorize. "This is a terrorist attack on my life. I regard
it as a terrorist attack on my life," he said.
No illnesses have been reported as a result of the ricin contamination.