EPA: Fumigate Hart Senate building

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Environmental Protection Agency recommended Monday that the Hart Senate Office Building should be fumigated with chlorine dioxide gas over the next two weeks to kill anthrax spores remaining in it.

Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said the plan would be reviewed by senators and scientific experts over the next two days.

The Hart building, which has been closed since an anthrax-laden letter was discovered in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, could reopen by November 13, Reid said.

"The [EPA] has assured us that this is the quickest, most protective and least disruptive approach that we can take," Reid said.

He said EPA experts have determined that documents and other objects in the building would not be damaged by the fumigation process.

The building, which contains 10 million cubic feet of space, would be sealed from the outside. Low concentrations of the gas would be pumped in and circulated by the air conditioning system, said Dr. Paul Schaudies of the EPA.

Tests would then be made to ensure anthrax spores detected in the building have been killed, he said.

Spores of a different bacteria -- harder to kill but not harmful to humans -- would be put in the building beforehand as another check on the effectiveness of the treatment.

Although anthrax has been found in only some areas of the building, the EPA decided it would be quicker to treat the entire building rather than block off just affected sections for fumigation, Schaudies said.

The gas, which is not harmful to humans at low concentrations and breaks down quickly, would be removed from the building before it is reopened.

The entire process of preparing, fumigating and testing the building would take two weeks; the fumigation itself would take two to three days.