Army Review Ties Md. Worker To Accidental Anthrax Shipment

ABERDEEN, Md. (WJZ) -- Anthrax mishap. A Maryland worker is one of a dozen people being tied to an accidental shipment that sent live anthrax to labs around the world.

Rick Ritter has more on the extensive review that's now being made public.

It's all part of an investigation that took several months for the Army to complete, and names Brig. Gen. William King IV, who now works in Aberdeen.

It's a shipment that spiraled out of control -- potentially deadly live anthrax, sent across the world.

A Maryland lab first reported the active sample in May. The Pentagon admits the spores were mistakenly sent from a facility in Utah to close to 200 labs.

Brigadier General William King IV commanded that lab in Utah at the time.

On Friday, he and 11 others were named in an Army investigation for running a "complacent atmosphere" there, adding that King "should be held accountable for failure to take action."

"A combination of events, including gaps in science, institutional issues and personal accountability, when taken together, each contributed to this event," said Major General Paul Ostrowski, led review team.

Brig. Gen. William King IV currently works at Aberdeen Proving Ground and released a short statement on Friday.

The one-star general says in part: "I remain deeply concerned about the seriousness of the circumstances surrounding the anthrax incident. I will collaborate to address the science and technical gaps associated with safe handling and processing of these extremely dangerous materials."

A major blow, that luckily, left no one injured.

"At no time were lab technicians nor the American public at risk based on these inadvertent shipments," said Ostrowski

No word on what "held accountable" would mean. Investigators say it could be as simple as just "retraining."

The decision will be made by the secretary of the Army.

Army officials continuously stressed that no single individual was directly responsible for the shipments.

The names of the other individuals were blacked out in the report.