Bowling Green Postal Processing Center employee Cheryl Forshee of Alvaton wears gloves Monday while sorting mail. Photo by Joe Imel

Bowling Greens postal processing facility is expecting to see new equipment installed faster than any previous project at the center, according to Postmaster Judy Myers. The equipment will be installed here and in all processing facilities following the apparent anthrax-related deaths of postal employees. They actually have not given me a whole lot of information yet, Myers said. They are telling me it will be a piece of equipment installed on what we have that will kill any biological or chemical hazards in the mail. This wont just be limited to anthrax. Myers is not sure when the equipment will arrive, but is confident it will happen faster than any other postal project has. It is very important to the mental attitude of our employees and to the public, Myers said. Meanwhile, Bowling Greens 500 or so letter carriers and others who handle the mail are getting frequent briefings throughout the day as information becomes available. About one-third of employees are wearing protective gloves that always have been available to them, according to Ron Henry, president of National Letter Carriers Association Local 468.We are trained what to look for so that nothing happens in Bowling Green, Henry said. If something would come through, we would see it before hits the street. Additionally, each employee is given a kit that contains gloves and bags to contain suspicious mail. There also are dust masks and fitted filtering masks available for use. Myers is confident in the training employees have received and said they acted appropriately when they spotted a brown powdery substance on local mail Saturday. Emergency crews were called in and immediately determined the substance was not hazardous. They determined it was something that comes off the rollers in the processing equipment, Myers said. Henry said he personally doesnt wear gloves all the time, but would put them on to handle mail that seems questionable. We know that there is a possibility of something happening, but we also know that it is part of everyday life, Henry said. We are not going to worry, thinking about something that (might) happen and make our lives miserable.