A building vacated by the National Enquirer after an anthrax attack killed a photo editor has been deemed safe, more than two years after cleanup began, according to federal officials.
Bob Stevens, a photo editor for American Media Inc., died in October 2001 after being exposed to anthrax in an envelope mailed to the building, which housed offices of the tabloid newspaper.Stevens's diagnosis was part of a wave of anthrax attacks and hoaxes that shook the nation with bioterrorism fears shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
The publisher later moved from the building, and the case remains unsolved.
In a letter to the Palm Beach County Health Department, federal officials said the building could be "safely reoccupied" and normal activities resumed.
The department expects to lift the quarantine by next week.
The cleanup began in July 2004. The building was fumigated with chlorine dioxide.
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