National biolab may remain on Plum Island

Five states have made ti finalists list to be the location of the $450 million federal biosecurity laboratory, but DHS officials concede that it all could be for naught. The eventual winning site could be where the department owns a current lab on Plum Island in New York. That information, conveyed Tuesday during a public hearing in Manhattan, Kansas - one fo the five locations on the list — surprised some state officials. “I hadn’t heard that before,” Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson said. The office of Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) also seemed surprised. Roberts took the lead early on to get Kansas in the running for the National Agro- and Bio-Defense Facility, or NBAF. For months, HDHS has been studying various sites around the country for construction of the 520,000-square-foot facility. Federal officials have said repeatedly that NBAF is needed to replace the smaller, aging lab on Plum Island. As proposed, NBAF would become the nation’s first integrated animal and plant research center with the capability to deal with human pathogens, according to DHS. Chosen as finalists by DHS were the Kansas State University campus; University of Georgia; Texas Research Park in San Antonio; Umstead Research Farm in North Carolina; and Flora Industrial Park in Mississippi.

In recent days, however, DHS announced a sixth possible site. In the Federal Register, the government stated: “Although not included in the competitive selection process outlined above, the DHS-owned Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) will also be considered as a reasonable alternative.” In addition, a “no action alternative” could be made in which NBAF would not be built, and upgrades would be made to Plum Island. Officials said they are required under federal law to consider the current lab site. Since 1954 the Plum Island facility has worked on protecting U.S. livestock from foreign animal diseases, such as foot and mouth disease. Senators Hilary Clinton (D-New York) and Charles Schumer (D-New York) have expressed opposition to upgrading Plum Island to handle more toxic substances that would be present in the NBAF, according to news reports. A decision on a site will be made in fall 2008.

“I cannot comment on how each of the sites are doing. We are in the very beginning of our scoping process,” said James Johnson, the DHS official who is managing the NBAF proposal and conducted the hearing in Manhattan. Sarah Little, a spokeswoman for Roberts, said Roberts was confident DHS will not select Plum Island for NBAF. “DHS wants to move this facility,” she said.