FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	
Contact: Media Relations	202-268-2155
November 17, 2003
	Release No. 086
	www.usps.com

AIR SYSTEM WILL PROTECT POSTAL EMPLOYEES, MAIL

WASHINGTON, DC - Deployment of new equipment designed to improve the overall 
health and safety of postal employees - and to reduce their exposure to 
biological threats in the mail - begins next year with the installation of 
new Ventilation and Filtration Systems (VFS) in mail processing and 
distribution centers across the country.

Specifically designed to capture and contain potentially hazardous airborne 
particulates which might be released during in-bound mail processing 
operations, VFS equipment will be installed above operations performed by 
Advanced Facer Canceler Systems (AFCS) - the equipment that cancels stamped 
letter mail - and also above each facility's network of machines that handles 
and prepares loose mail for cancellation.

During mail processing, VFS equipment will automatically and continuously 
vacuum air from the machinery through a series of filters that capture and 
contain at least 99.97 percent of all dust and potential contaminants.  The 
system - which uses conventional filters and ultra-High Efficiency 
Particulate Air (HEPA) filters - has undergone extensive testing by the 
National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH).

According to Tom Day, Postal Service Vice President of Engineering, VFS 
represents the second phase of a multi-tiered response to events resulting 
from the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001.

The first phase - nationwide deployment of Biohazard Detection Systems (BDS) 
- begins in March 2004 and marks the Postal Service's initial step in 
establishing non-invasive methods to provide for the detection and 
containment of aerosolized biohazards in all mail processing and distribution 
centers.

"Our Ventilation and Filtration Systems work in concert with the BDS to 
provide an integrated safety network that meets the Postal Service's goals of 
improving the overall safety of our employees, the safety of the mail, and 
the safety of the American public," said Day.

VFS equipment - supplied under contracts awarded to Siemens Dematic Postal 
Automation LP of Arlington, TX, and AccuSort Systems Inc. of Hatfield, PA - 
will be installed nationwide in more than 280 mail processing and 
distribution centers.

The Siemens Dematic contract, valued at $89.9 million, calls for system 
equipment to be installed on all 1,065 AFCS machines located in mail 
processing centers across the country.  The AccuSort Systems contract, valued 
at $35 million, calls for VFS equipment to be installed over the area in each 
mail processing center where loose mail preparation machines operate.  Terms 
of the contracts call for installations to begin in the spring of 2004.

Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, 
neighbors and businesses by mail.  It is an independent federal agency that 
makes deliveries to about 140 million addresses every day and is the only 
service provider to deliver to every address in the nation.  The Postal 
Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its 
operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services.  
With annual revenues of more than $66 billion, it is the world's leading 
provider of mail and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable 
postage rates in the world.  The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 43 
percent of the world's mail volume -- some 203 billion letters, 
advertisements, periodicals and packages a year -- and serves seven million 
customers each day at its 38,000 retail locations nationwide.

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