Senators say they have little confidence in EPA plan to rid office building of anthrax

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Environmental workers installed chemically resistant pipe and barriers Thursday to fumigate the Senate's Hart Office Building despite a lack of confidence among some senators about the government's broader plan on anthrax.

"We're getting ready for fumigation. ... We're still on track," said Richard Rupert, the Environmental Protection Agency's on-scene coordinator for the Capitol Hill anthrax cleanup.

Workers plan to begin using chlorine dioxide gas over the weekend to disinfect the suite of offices in the Hart building used by Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., the majority leader.

Senators with offices in the Hart building were skeptical of EPA's handling of the unprecedented series of anthrax scares, however.

"The Environmental Protection Agency doesn't have very much expertise on this," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Wednesday at a hearing on the progress of the cleanup. "They don't. They need experts."