Nerve agent alarm clears Senate office building

Second test negative; more testing under way

Wednesday, February 8, 2006; Posted: 8:50 p.m. EST (01:50 GMT)

More than 200 people were evacuated from the Russell Senate Office Building on Wednesday.




An alarm detects nerve agent in a Senate office building (3:30)


A U.S. Senate office building was evacuated Wednesday evening after a sensor detected the presence of a possible nerve agent, sources said.

However, a second test came back negative.

"We are taking samples to our testing facilities," said Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider. "Subsequent tests have indicated it's not a nerve agent."

Eight senators and more than 200 staffers were evacuated after alarms sounded at 7 p.m. in the attic of the Russell Senate Office Building, just north of the Capitol, Senate aides said.

Schneider said she couldn't say whether it was powder, gas or liquid that was detected. It was more like "something in the air" in the building's attic, which takes up an entire floor of the 658,000-square-foot building, she said.

The evacuees have been taken to an underground parking garage next to the building, said Eileen McMenamin, a spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain.

Schneider said the evacuees are "being briefed on the situation and they're also being cared for." She said no one was receiving treatment because none of the evacuees has reported having any symptoms of nerve agent exposure -- not even a runny nose.

Police echoed that no one has shown symptoms of exposure, leading one security expert to suspect a false alarm.

If a high concentration of nerve agent had been released in the building, those inside would have exhibited watery eyes, choking and other "very distinct, very sudden-onset symptoms," said Dean Wilkening of the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation.

"My guess is this probably is a false alarm," Wilkening said.

McMenamin said police have ordered those evacuated to remain in the parking garage until additional tests are complete.

"They said this is precautionary because it could be fertilizer or anything else," she said.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, "Nerve agents are the most toxic of the known chemical-warfare agents

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