BiolabsGovernment considering options for post-biolab Plum Island

Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center // Source: dhs.gov

The Plum Island biolab has always been shrouded in mystery. The animal disease research facility just off the eastern tip of Long Island has been closed to the public since the last century due to the sensitive nature of the bio-medical research that takes place on the island.

Now the center is being shut down by DHS and the government is beginning to accept public input on what should be done on the island and the research facility.

The Hartford Courant reports that a 400-page draft Environmental Impact Statement lists the islands options for its use after the space is sold:

• Re-use the existing buildings; leave the rest of the island undeveloped
• Build around ninety housing units on two to three acres which would house 200 residents
• Construct 750 residential units, mostly second homes and rentals
• Protect, manage, and enhance the island for conservation and preservation purposes
• Close the lab and facilities and make no changes

The most likely outcome is that the forty-seven buildings currently on the 840-acre island will be used for some other type of research, according to environmentalists and officials in Southold, New York, the community in whose jurisdiction the island resides.

“We’re thinking about, simply from the environmental-benefit perspective, keeping as much of the island protected or the whole island protected is going to be the optimal choice, obviously, but everyone recognizes there are tradeoffs and balances there.” Mike Tedesco, director of the Stamford-based Long Island Sound Office of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the Hartford Courant.

Southold intends to give the island a zoning designation, which it has never had since the island has been federal property since 1901. The local government wants to give the island either a residential, commercial, or other designation before the property is sold and before the end of the year, according to Heather Lanza, the planning director of Southold.

Currently no one lives on the island and lab workers on the island take ferries from Old Saybrook and Orient Point, New York to the island. Access to the island is only available to workers, contractors, and certain visitors.

Leah Schmalz, director of legislative and legal affairs for Save the Sound, wants the natural wildlife to be considered, including birds such as the piping plover and the roseate tern, as well as a rare orchid called Spring Ladies’ Tresses. She said she has also seen seals resting on its rocks.

“It’s a pretty amazing bit of habitat there.” Schmalz told the Courant.

The rare wildlife was enough to get the U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service(FHS) to draft a statement, in which it said: “Plum Island is extremely important for migratory birds, marine waterfowl and other wildlife, particularly the piping plover, common tern and roseate tern. In fact, the island has been designated as an Important Bird Area by Audubon New York.”

The island has been the subject of some ugly rumors in the past, including biological warfare experiments, as well as animal-hybrid experimentation. The rumors most likely came as a result of the island being designated as a bio-safety level 3 facility.

The primary diseases that were studied on the island were foot-and-mouth disease, swine fever, and vesicular stomatitis virus. Hog cholera, African swine fever, and more than forty other diseases have also been studied on the island.

The island has been part of several controversies. During the cold war, the government denied it was conducting biological warfare experiments on the island.  Newsday found documents in 1994 suggesting otherwise. The book Lab 257 released in 2003, alleged links between the island and infectious diseases such as Lyme disease and West Nile Virus.

According to U.S. Representative Tim Bishop (D-New York), there is still a lot of red tape to go through before any decisions are made. He also has something to say for those who think the sale of the facility is just a way for the government to make money.

“Before we even scratch the surface of decommissioning the Animal Disease Center and clean up whatever mess the federal government has made at this highly toxic and hazardous site. In short, if someone thinks this sale will net the federal government dime one, forget about an island, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.”