N.J. postal facility closed after cleanup bungled

CAMDEN, New Jersey (CNN) -- A federal judge Wednesday ordered a New Jersey postal facility closed until an arbitrator can resolve a dispute over decontamination of a place in the building where anthrax was found. (Full story)

The dispute is between the U.S. Postal Service and a union representing workers at the South Jersey Processing and Distribution Center in Bellmawr.

The union filed a grievance when the postal service reopened the facility after a hazardous materials team had to treat it a second time because the wrong area was decontaminated the first time.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Jerome Simandle ordered the facility closed "as promptly as possible," no later than 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.

The postal service issued a statement saying it would abide by the ruling.

Anthrax by the numbers 17 total anthrax infections   • 10 cases inhalation anthrax (4 dead)   • 7 cases cutaneous anthrax Source: CDC/CNN  IN-DEPTH  VIDEO/AUDIO   •  Investigators baffled by 94-year-old woman's death  MORE STORIES   •  Gephardt: Anthrax cleanup 'tougher than expected'   •  Official: CIA uses anthrax, but no link to letters  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Anthrax symptoms   •  Tracking the bacteria  RESOURCES   •  Advice on suspicious packages   •  Message board  The latest news

Latest developments:

• A postal worker in Washington who died of inhalation anthrax last month knew he had been exposed to a suspicious letter and tried to tell postal officials, apparently to no avail. In a 911 call placed just hours before his death October 21, Thomas Morris Jr. requested an ambulance and described symptoms consistent with the inhalation form of the disease. (Full story)

• The U.S. Postal Service says it has been plagued in recent days by nearly 12,000 hoaxes, threats and suspicious mail incidents -- an average of 654 daily -- that have resulted in the evacuation of 429 postal facilities for varying amounts of time. Lawmakers are considering legislation aimed at stopping the flood of hoaxes. (Full story)

• New York Health Department officials said Wednesday anthrax was found in a second floor mailroom at ABC network headquarters in Manhattan. The department received the positive test results last week. "Two spots were found and they were both decontaminated," said department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin. "The finding does not present a health risk to anybody in the building." (Full story)

• Mail from the Postal Service's regional processing center in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, will be transported to an off-site facility this week for irradiation, postal officials said Wednesday. Three anthrax-contaminated letters sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, the New York Post and NBC News were all postmarked in that facility. (Full story)

• The first of thousands of pieces of mail from the Brentwood processing center in Washington will begin being delivered in the next couple of days after being irradiated at an offsite facility in Lima, Ohio, which has been handling 750,000 pieces of mail daily, or about 28,000 pounds, since the anthrax-contaminated Brentwood center was closed October 21.

• New York Police Sgt. Brian Burke said Wednesday investigators have been using hospital worker Kathy Nguyen's MetroCard -- a prepaid ticket that records the time and place of a passenger's use of the rapid transit system -- to help them unravel the mystery of how she contracted the anthrax that killed her. (Full story)

• Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle got a close-up look Wednesday at the bacteria sent to his office when he toured National Naval Medical Center where thousands of samples from Capitol Hill buildings were tested for anthrax. (Full story)

• After a lengthy silence, House Speaker Dennis Hastert defended his decision to close down the House side of the Capitol for several days last month so investigators could test buildings for anthrax contamination. "I think it was prudent what we did," he said.

• After sharp criticism from Congress on the status of the anthrax investigation, FBI investigators have begun to focus their attention on laboratories with access to the bacteria, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Wednesday. "They will be talking to people to see if they can get clues or leads to identify the origin of the anthrax," he said.

• Four post office facilities -- Washington's Brentwood processing center, a Hamilton Township, New Jersey, processing center, a stamp facility in Kansas City, Missouri, and a Pentagon substation -- remained closed Wednesday, Ridge told reporters at the White House. The investigation, he said, has been plagued by an estimated 10,000 hoaxes with which the Postal Service has had to deal.

• CNN has learned the FBI visited a New Jersey elementary school similar in name to the fictional school listed in the return address on the anthrax letter sent to Daschle. Local police said FBI agents visited Greenbrook Elementary School in Kendall Park whose name is similar to the fictitious "Greendale School" on the anthrax letter. The visit came after police saw the similarity in the return address. (Full story)