IRS building shut down after strychnine discovered

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/washington/stories/031505dnbusirs.3f7f2.html


A portion of the Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington was shut down for about two hours this morning after the discovery of a suspected poisonous substance in a package, local fire officials said.

It was the second time in two days that a suspicious substance disrupted work in a federal government building in or near the capital. Two Defense Department mail centers were evacuated yesterday after sensors detected anthrax bacteria. Samples taken at the facility tested positive for anthrax, the Washington Post reported on its Web site, citing the Department of Health and Human Services.

Tests showed the substance in the package at the IRS was strychnine-based, similar to rat poison, Washington, D.C., fire department spokesman Alan Etter said. Anthony Burke, a spokesman for the IRS, said there was an "unknown substance in a suspicious package" and gave no details about how or where the package was discovered.

Since envelops containing anthrax were sent to government offices in 2001, all packages and mail destined for federal buildings are irradiated and scanned before delivery