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Authorities Drain Pond in Anthrax Investigation

Aired June 09, 2003 - 10:01   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: Well, we're following new developments in the investigation into the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. The FBI is now draining a municipal pond in Maryland in a search for evidence there. The pond had earlier been the subject of law enforcement scrutiny, but had not been drained.
CNN Justice Department Correspondent Kelli Arena joins us with the very latest on that investigation -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, there are a variety of both FBI and postal inspection agents that are on site. The pond, as you said, will be drained. Obviously, many of the searches that were conducted were conducted over the winter months. The pond was -- a good deal of it was frozen. But there was -- there were some items that were retrieved from that pond in prior searches. One was described by investigators as a large plastic tub with holes in the side. It was an enclosed tub with holes in the side that they likened to something that could have been used in a laboratory during experiments. There were also some vials, according to investigators, found in that pond, obviously enough for the FBI to decide that it wants to go back and drain the pond to facilitate coming up with anything that could be in that pond that may be linked to those anthrax killings back in 2001.

The FBI has refused to officially comment on any link that this pond has, only to say that it is being searched as part of that broader anthrax investigation. As you said earlier, Fredricka, this pond is very close to Fort Detrick which is where some anthrax testing had been conducted. So far though -- and we need to underscore this -- no one has been named a suspect in this investigation. There have been no arrests so far.

WHITFIELD: Now, Kelly, how large is this pond and how long would it take to actually drain it completely?

ARENA: Well, I was told -- I'm not exactly sure of the acreage of the pond, and it is very, very large, and I'm told that it is a great undertaking, and there was a lot of back and forth over whether there would be any public health ramifications, and the city of Frederick, Maryland, as well as the FBI and Postal Inspector Ross (ph) saying that there is nothing for the residents in that area to be concerned about, but it is a massive undertaking. So obviously just underscores the importance of this search in this investigation. This is not a decision that the FBI took lightly. There is a lot involved here, major contractors that need to be brought in to do this task and handle environmental concerns as well as public safety concerns. So just shows how important they believe this pond may be in the anthrax investigation.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kelli Arena, thanks very much from Washington.

ARENA: You are welcome.

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 June 9, 2003 - 10:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're following new developments in the investigation into the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. The FBI is now draining a municipal pond in Maryland in a search for evidence there. The pond had earlier been the subject of law enforcement scrutiny, but had not been drained.
CNN Justice Department Correspondent Kelli Arena joins us with the very latest on that investigation -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, there are a variety of both FBI and postal inspection agents that are on site. The pond, as you said, will be drained. Obviously, many of the searches that were conducted were conducted over the winter months. The pond was -- a good deal of it was frozen. But there was -- there were some items that were retrieved from that pond in prior searches. One was described by investigators as a large plastic tub with holes in the side. It was an enclosed tub with holes in the side that they likened to something that could have been used in a laboratory during experiments. There were also some vials, according to investigators, found in that pond, obviously enough for the FBI to decide that it wants to go back and drain the pond to facilitate coming up with anything that could be in that pond that may be linked to those anthrax killings back in 2001.

The FBI has refused to officially comment on any link that this pond has, only to say that it is being searched as part of that broader anthrax investigation. As you said earlier, Fredricka, this pond is very close to Fort Detrick which is where some anthrax testing had been conducted. So far though -- and we need to underscore this -- no one has been named a suspect in this investigation. There have been no arrests so far.

WHITFIELD: Now, Kelly, how large is this pond and how long would it take to actually drain it completely?

ARENA: Well, I was told -- I'm not exactly sure of the acreage of the pond, and it is very, very large, and I'm told that it is a great undertaking, and there was a lot of back and forth over whether there would be any public health ramifications, and the city of Frederick, Maryland, as well as the FBI and Postal Inspector Ross (ph) saying that there is nothing for the residents in that area to be concerned about, but it is a massive undertaking. So obviously just underscores the importance of this search in this investigation. This is not a decision that the FBI took lightly. There is a lot involved here, major contractors that need to be brought in to do this task and handle environmental concerns as well as public safety concerns. So just shows how important they believe this pond may be in the anthrax investigation.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kelli Arena, thanks very much from Washington.

ARENA: You are welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com