Spring Break
Univ. has 'good shot' at laboratory bid
Group quashes safety, chemical fears
GREG WILSON
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: News
The decision for the site of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Laboratory is expected within the next month, and administrators said they believe the University has a "good shot" at getting the bid.
The University has been involved in a three-year courtship to host the $500 million Department of Homeland Security laboratory that would study animal diseases and pathogens at a site on South Milledge Avenue.
But there is stiff competition from five other locations vying for the prize: Butner, N.C.; Manhattan, Kan.; Flora, Miss.; San Antonio, Texas; and Plum Island, N.Y.
The Department of Homeland Security expects to release the final environmental impact statement in the first or second week of December, said John Verrico, Homeland Security spokesman.
"We continue to believe that Athens is the best possible site for NBAF," said David Lee, University vice president for research.
"[Homeland Security] wanted to make the decision before the end of the term and share it with the new administration," Lee said. "For all we know they might have made a decision and be waiting to share it with President-elect [Barack] Obama's team."
But Verrico said there has been no communication with the Obama's transition team.
Lee said Obama sees the need for the facility but "there have been staggering economic changes since this process started three years ago."
"I think that [Homeland Security] knows this is a state-of-the-art facility and that we are charting new territory," he said. "I don't think they are naive, that they think it will go through a trial and not discover things that need changing."
Verrico said Homeland Security knows about the chemical leaks at the Animal Health Resource Center in October, but it will have "no impact on our decision process for siting the NBAF."
"[The leaks] would probably not matter," he said. "Our facility is completely separate from other facilities. We are looking to share information and research, not research methods."
But co-founders of the anti-NBAF organization, For Athens Quality of Life, said the leaks show the dangers of such a facility in Athens.
"I guess if all the livestock and people of Athens had been wiped out it would have affected their decision," founder Grady Thrasher said. "The [AHRC] is a mini-NBAF. It's one-seventh of the size. They still don't have it right. From our point of view, we're looking at the horror of what NBAF will be."
The University has tried to "sell" the facility, saying new technology will keep the facility safe and transparent, Thrasher said.
But accidents can happen, said Kathy Prescott, co-founder of FAQ.
"You just can't design a way out of accidents whether it was human error or system failure. That's one of our big concerns," she said.
The University has been involved in a three-year courtship to host the $500 million Department of Homeland Security laboratory that would study animal diseases and pathogens at a site on South Milledge Avenue.
But there is stiff competition from five other locations vying for the prize: Butner, N.C.; Manhattan, Kan.; Flora, Miss.; San Antonio, Texas; and Plum Island, N.Y.
The Department of Homeland Security expects to release the final environmental impact statement in the first or second week of December, said John Verrico, Homeland Security spokesman.
"We continue to believe that Athens is the best possible site for NBAF," said David Lee, University vice president for research.
"[Homeland Security] wanted to make the decision before the end of the term and share it with the new administration," Lee said. "For all we know they might have made a decision and be waiting to share it with President-elect [Barack] Obama's team."
But Verrico said there has been no communication with the Obama's transition team.
Lee said Obama sees the need for the facility but "there have been staggering economic changes since this process started three years ago."
"I think that [Homeland Security] knows this is a state-of-the-art facility and that we are charting new territory," he said. "I don't think they are naive, that they think it will go through a trial and not discover things that need changing."
Verrico said Homeland Security knows about the chemical leaks at the Animal Health Resource Center in October, but it will have "no impact on our decision process for siting the NBAF."
"[The leaks] would probably not matter," he said. "Our facility is completely separate from other facilities. We are looking to share information and research, not research methods."
But co-founders of the anti-NBAF organization, For Athens Quality of Life, said the leaks show the dangers of such a facility in Athens.
"I guess if all the livestock and people of Athens had been wiped out it would have affected their decision," founder Grady Thrasher said. "The [AHRC] is a mini-NBAF. It's one-seventh of the size. They still don't have it right. From our point of view, we're looking at the horror of what NBAF will be."
The University has tried to "sell" the facility, saying new technology will keep the facility safe and transparent, Thrasher said.
But accidents can happen, said Kathy Prescott, co-founder of FAQ.
"You just can't design a way out of accidents whether it was human error or system failure. That's one of our big concerns," she said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 4
No NBAF
posted 11/14/08 @ 10:12 AM EST
How can these accidents not be a factor?
The accidents on campus at the Animal Health Resource Center went unreported. It wasn't until the media found out that the public was alerted. (Continued…)
Jacques
posted 11/14/08 @ 12:41 PM EST
I don't want a bio-terror lab here.
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