In 1993, Grinberg and Abramova, encouraged by the new sense of openness, published in a Russian scientific journal their findings that the victims had suffered from inhalation anthrax. Also, Meselson finally won permission to lead a research group to the renamed city of Yekaterinburg to study what had happened. The compound is located in a forested area on the southern end of the city. When first set up in 1949, it was distant from Sverdlovsk's population, but since then, the city has grown around it. Just next to the compound, to the south, is a regular military base, Compound 32, which houses two tank divisions.
Further south is a community of single-story wooden houses, with small gardens.
Across the road from the houses is a ceramics factory. According to Meselson's findings, based on local airport weather reports, the wind was blowing from Compound 19 in the direction of the ceramics factory. Vladlen Krayev, chief engineer of the ceramics factory, was present when the epidemic began. He recalled that the factory had a ventilator that sucked air from outside. Some air was pumped into ceramics furnaces, but the rest was used for general ventilation.