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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2001

The New Mexico Health Department is considering Bureau of Indian Affairs employees to be at low risk to anthrax and is advising against testing or treatment for any.

BIA employees in Albuquerque were sent home by the Rob Baracker, the Southwest regional director. Baracker made the decision after Deputy Commissioner Sharon Blackwell had received an e-mail message confirming that a mass mailing sent to the homes of nearly 10,000 BIA employees was routed through the same postal facility where workers have died and which handled anthrax-contaminated letters to Congress and the media.

The letter, said Baracker, was sent by Secretary of Interior's second-in-command, J. Steven Griles. It was an anti-reprisal order forbidding retaliation against any BIA or Interior employee should he or she come forward with information about the ongoing trust fund lawsuit.

Why Griles sent it to every employee's home is not yet clear, although it may have been in response to a recent court opinon. The special master in the Cobell case has recommended department officials and management be held in contempt because they failed to distribute the document despite being ordered to do so.

Whether Griles sent it to other Interior employees at other bureaus who work on the trust fund was not known.

Get the Story:
State Doesn't Advise Testing BIA Workers (The Albuquerque Journal 11/2)

Relevant Links:
Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, Department of Defense - http://www.anthrax.osd.mil

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