WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch's staff returned to its anthrax-closed office for the first time in three months Tuesday. To their horror, aides found a dozen dead casualties strewn around.
But they were just houseplants.
They hadn't been watered during the three months that the Hart Senate Office Building was sealed, and the government spent $20 million trying to decontaminate it. The poison chlorine dioxide gas used probably didn't help the plants either.
"The senator received this plant when his mother died," said executive assistant Ruth Montoya, pointing to a heap of dry leaves. "Another one died that he received when his father passed away. I had nurtured it along for, what, eight years? It's sad."
But that was the only sadness as Hatch's staff breathed a collective sigh of relief at finally returning to his Hart Building office. It was closed Oct. 17 after a letter with anthrax was sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and the spores got into ventilation systems.
Hatch's staff members, who were put on antibiotics because of possible anthrax exposure, had been scattered in three locations around Capitol Hill. They said eight staffers would often be crammed into space designed for one or two aides.
Aide J.J. Brown was among those who had been housed a few blocks away at Postal Square. "The computers we used there were at least a decade old, and you couldn't access the Internet. And we had no access to the (Senate) floor either. And we didn't have our files."
He said negotiations on bills were difficult because key staffers for other senators often could not be located as they were scattered in corners of all buildings. Also, he and others didn't have phones or had to share. "It's been, well, Hades," Brown said.
Office manager Katharine Dillingham noted, "Originally, we were told we would be out for four or five days, and it became three months. So we had just taken what we thought we would need for those first few days." At least they could access their computer files from remote terminals.
The staff said the office was eerily almost exactly as it had been left 87 days earlier. For example, staff assistant Elizabeth Porter found an Oct. 17 newspaper still sitting on her desk where it had been left. The headline was: "Anthrax Scare Shuts Senate Offices."
Aides said they saw only two major differences as they returned: the dead plants and the cleanliness.
"It's probably as clean as it ever has been," said Scott Simpson, an executive assistant to Hatch.
The entire building still smelled like bleach and other cleaning solutions. The carpets had obviously been shampooed, probably several times.
"They even took the office refrigerator and totally cleaned it from top to bottom and inside and out," Dillingham said.
Still, the staff wasn't taking any chances. Hatch's lobby had a giant plastic Dumpster where aides were throwing away anything they thought might be questionable.
For example, Montoya threw away stacks of old paper plates, cups, forks and spoons. "They say these are supposed to be safe to use, but I bought new ones anyway," she said as she tossed them.
Ironically, Hatch had moved to the Hart building last year because the slightly larger office would be more convenient and roomy for his staff. It would have been except for the anthrax scare.
"I'm glad we're back," Simpson said. Compared to the scattered cramped quarters the staff had in recent months, he said, "It's not quite heaven, but it's close."
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