Update on INS Mail Delivery
Posted Oct 19, 2001

In our October 15, 2001 MurthyBulletin NewsFlash available on MurthyDotCom, we indicated that INS mailrooms were closed on Monday, October 15, due to the finding of a suspicious substance. Mailrooms were expected to reopen the following day, on Tuesday the 16^th. The latest news, as of Wednesday (October 17, 2001), is that all INS mailrooms are now open, with the exception of the Vermont Service Center (VSC). The VSC will remain closed until it receives clearance from the General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington DC. If GSA does not give its approval by the end of the day on October 17, 2001, some type of contingency plan will go into effect. By the time this publication went to press, we had no further news as to the GSA determination.

Neither do we have any details as to what the contingency plan might entail, though it would presumably involve mail delivery to another site. However, The Law Office of Sheela Murthy did send several packages to VSC on Thursday (October 18, 2001) and none was returned, indicating that they were accepted. Last reports are that all tests of the suspicious package at VSC have so far been negative, though we are told that the routine procedures for this type of situation require some further testing to be conducted.