Judge Orders Bellmawr Post Office Closed

BELLMAWR, N.J.: A federal judge wants the Bellmawr mail facility to stay shut until an arbitrator hears workers' complaints.

U.S. District Judge Jerome Simandle closed the office Wednesday. He Also ordered that health officials offer anthrax tests and antibiotics.

The postal union said workers were worried the facility wasn't free of anthrax.

The Bellmawr office reopened on Sunday, a day after anthrax spores were detected on a barcode sorting device.

But a contractor cleaned the wrong machine yesterday, causing the area around it to be closed off. Employees were told the work floor posed no immediate threat.

A Bellmawr worker has a suspected case of skin anthrax.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Author: 6 - ABC, Action News