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Commanding

Aquia Harbour man played critical role in cleanup at Brentwood postal facility.

By PAMELA GOULD

Date published: 1/5/2003

JOHN H. BRIDGES III was headed for a relaxing Sunday of bass fishing on Aquia Creek when his boss called about anthrax contamination in their workplace.

That was 14 months ago, and the Aquia Harbour resident hasn't been out on his bass boat since.

Bridges, 47, has logged more than 4,100 hours as incident commander at what is believed to be the largest cleanup operation ever of the potentially deadly bacteria--the Brentwood postal facility in northeast Washington.

The decontamination of the 17.5 million-cubic-foot structure means Bridges also hasn't seen much of his two sons--one in high school, the other in elementary--or his wife.

"I give them a lot of credit for their patience and understanding," he said during a recent interview.

Bridges, who grew up in Florida, got his start in the environmental engineering field as a Marine stationed in California. He finished his career as a gunnery sergeant at Quantico Marine Corps Base and then spent two years as a consultant before hooking up with the U.S. Postal Service in 1996.

Until October 2001, his duties as supervisor of environmental activities for postal facilities in Maryland, Washington and Northern Virginia revolved around stormwater permits, hazardous-waste disposal (usually inks), an occasional asbestos issue and making sure employees had safe drinking water.

But one week after Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy received anthrax-laced mail on Capitol Hill, his focus dramatically shifted.

On Oct. 21, 2001--the day Bridges was called away from his Stafford County fishing outing--the Brentwood facility was shut down.

Before it was over, two postal employees were dead as a result of their exposure at Brentwood and at least two others--including Leroy Richmond of North Stafford--were critically ill.

Three months ago, the Brentwood facility was renamed The Joseph Curseen Jr. and Thomas Morris Jr. Processing and Distribution Center in honor of the two workers who died.

Since the decontamination process began, Bridges has been in and out of the two-story brick building several times a week--to check progress of fumigation preparation, run tests and gather samples.

He said he never feared for his safety because of the on-site precautions and the protective gear each person wears.

"With all the training going on and all the equipment, I wasn't concerned at all," Bridges said.

But he did do his homework.

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Date published: 1/5/2003