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CNN Live Today
Interview with Yolanda Janczewski
Aired September 20, 2002 - 10:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It was a year ago when Americans were still in shock over the events of September 11 that someone began sending deadly anthrax through the U.S. mail. Eventually, five people would die and 18 others would have confirmed cases of anthrax infection.
Yolanda Janczewski is president and CEO of Consolidated Safety Services in Washington. Her firm was intimately involved in tackling the anthrax contamination in the aftermath of the attacks.
She joins us to review one year later -- good to see you.
YOLANDA JANCZEWSKI, PRESIDENT, CONSOLIDATED SAFETY SERVICES: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: You're among the first to be called in to help assess the situation, at least at the State Department for about a few months there.
Looking back now, do you believe that -- if another threat like this were to occur on the municipal, on the federal level, on the state level, perhaps we might be better equipped to handle an anthrax threat?
JANCZEWSKI: I think -- I think we continue to be better equipped as time goes on. I think we were equipped in the beginning. We did show that those of us that are in the industry can certainly respond to large scale problems like this, but we are now working on better mechanisms for communications, for supplies, and to be in a better state of readiness should this happen again.
WHITFIELD: And communication had always been one of the complaints that several had made on the municipal and the federal level that perhaps there wasn't a good level of cooperation when trying to investigate and discern what, indeed, is anthrax, what is the danger, and how do you clean up.
JANCZEWSKI: Right, and I think we are starting to put together a lot of task force. There is a lot of effort by the federal government to try to get different agencies together, and to reach out to the experts in the industry, which, I think, will help us in the long run.
WHITFIELD: What would be your recommendation?
JANCZEWSKI: I think we continue in our efforts to learn. I think we are going to learn a lot from the decontamination efforts coming up in the Brentwood facility, and in the State Department facility, and that will help us even be more ready for the next time.
But I think we need to establish -- you're right, better communication between the agencies, between the agencies and the industries, between federal and municipalities, so that we can all work quicker in these circumstances.
WHITFIELD: You mentioned the Brentwood building, the Brentwood Post Office, that building remains closed, as does the AMI building, the publishing company in Florida. Does it concern you that while some facilities remain closed, others, such as the Hart Building, were allowed to reopen?
JANCZEWSKI: No, not at all. I think we needed to work within our priorities in the Brentwood building, and in some of these other buildings we were able to move the operations elsewhere. We cannot do that with the Hart Building, so certainly our priority was to get the Hart Building finished first.
We have now learned a lot from doing the Hart Building, so we can proceed a little smarter on the Brentwood operation -- and keep in mind that Brentwood is a very, very large facility, so it is going to take a much bigger effort.
WHITFIELD: Large facility, as was the AMI building, a pretty significant-size building in the middle of a business park. However, there have been a lot of concerns that have been aired in people in those underlying communities who are saying, wait a minute, if these buildings are still closed, does that mean there is a continued threat in the nearby existing residences and businesses?
JANCZEWSKI: No. The threat is not the contamination that is inside the building. What is going on is that they need to seal the buildings off, and that is a very long process, and then once they begin the decontamination process, the Environmental Protection Agency has set up perimeter monitoring stations to be sure that any of the gas that is used does not escape from the building and into the surrounding communities, but as far as the threat from what is in the building moving outside, I don't think any community needs to be concerned about that.
WHITFIELD: All right. Yolanda Janczewski, thank you very much for joining us, appreciate it.
JANCZEWSKI: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 20, 2002 - 10:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It was a year ago when Americans were still in shock over the events of September 11 that someone began sending deadly anthrax through the U.S. mail. Eventually, five people would die and 18 others would have confirmed cases of anthrax infection.
Yolanda Janczewski is president and CEO of Consolidated Safety Services in Washington. Her firm was intimately involved in tackling the anthrax contamination in the aftermath of the attacks.
She joins us to review one year later -- good to see you.
YOLANDA JANCZEWSKI, PRESIDENT, CONSOLIDATED SAFETY SERVICES: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: You're among the first to be called in to help assess the situation, at least at the State Department for about a few months there.
Looking back now, do you believe that -- if another threat like this were to occur on the municipal, on the federal level, on the state level, perhaps we might be better equipped to handle an anthrax threat?
JANCZEWSKI: I think -- I think we continue to be better equipped as time goes on. I think we were equipped in the beginning. We did show that those of us that are in the industry can certainly respond to large scale problems like this, but we are now working on better mechanisms for communications, for supplies, and to be in a better state of readiness should this happen again.
WHITFIELD: And communication had always been one of the complaints that several had made on the municipal and the federal level that perhaps there wasn't a good level of cooperation when trying to investigate and discern what, indeed, is anthrax, what is the danger, and how do you clean up.
JANCZEWSKI: Right, and I think we are starting to put together a lot of task force. There is a lot of effort by the federal government to try to get different agencies together, and to reach out to the experts in the industry, which, I think, will help us in the long run.
WHITFIELD: What would be your recommendation?
JANCZEWSKI: I think we continue in our efforts to learn. I think we are going to learn a lot from the decontamination efforts coming up in the Brentwood facility, and in the State Department facility, and that will help us even be more ready for the next time.
But I think we need to establish -- you're right, better communication between the agencies, between the agencies and the industries, between federal and municipalities, so that we can all work quicker in these circumstances.
WHITFIELD: You mentioned the Brentwood building, the Brentwood Post Office, that building remains closed, as does the AMI building, the publishing company in Florida. Does it concern you that while some facilities remain closed, others, such as the Hart Building, were allowed to reopen?
JANCZEWSKI: No, not at all. I think we needed to work within our priorities in the Brentwood building, and in some of these other buildings we were able to move the operations elsewhere. We cannot do that with the Hart Building, so certainly our priority was to get the Hart Building finished first.
We have now learned a lot from doing the Hart Building, so we can proceed a little smarter on the Brentwood operation -- and keep in mind that Brentwood is a very, very large facility, so it is going to take a much bigger effort.
WHITFIELD: Large facility, as was the AMI building, a pretty significant-size building in the middle of a business park. However, there have been a lot of concerns that have been aired in people in those underlying communities who are saying, wait a minute, if these buildings are still closed, does that mean there is a continued threat in the nearby existing residences and businesses?
JANCZEWSKI: No. The threat is not the contamination that is inside the building. What is going on is that they need to seal the buildings off, and that is a very long process, and then once they begin the decontamination process, the Environmental Protection Agency has set up perimeter monitoring stations to be sure that any of the gas that is used does not escape from the building and into the surrounding communities, but as far as the threat from what is in the building moving outside, I don't think any community needs to be concerned about that.
WHITFIELD: All right. Yolanda Janczewski, thank you very much for joining us, appreciate it.
JANCZEWSKI: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
