WASHINGTON?Officials cleaning up a Senate office building contaminated with anthrax now hope the work will be finished in time to reopen early next year.

Employees returned to work Monday at the adjacent Dirksen Senate Office Building, closed while cleanup crews fumigated Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle’s office suite in the Hart Senate Office Building with chlorine dioxide gas over the weekend.

The Hart building, where potentially lethal anthrax bacteria escaped Oct. 15 from a letter opened by an aide to Daschle, will remain shut while the Environmental Protection Agency finishes work on 11 other senators’ suites and areas. The building provides work space for half the 100 member chamber.

“We’re back to the regular routine of cleaning up the other suites in the Hart building,” said Richard Rupert, the EPA’s onsite coordinator.