An independent scientific commission has called on the U.S. National Institutes of Health to re-examine possible safety threats that a $200 million Boston University biological defense laboratory could pose to surrounding neighborhoods, the Boston Globe reported Saturday (see GSN, March 17).
In a 21-page letter to NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, the National Research Council panel said that Biosafety Level 4 laboratories are needed to study the world's most lethal disease agents. The experts said that such facilities could be safely run within cities.
"However," the letter states, "the committee's view remains that the selection of sites for high-containment laboratories should be supported by detailed analyses and transparent communication of the available scientific information regarding possible risks."
The National Research Council last year said that safety studies of the laboratory were "not sound and credible" (see GSN, Nov. 30, 2007).
A new safety review could further delay the opening of the facility. Boston University has already postponed the start of operations from this fall; a spokeswoman said Friday that it remains too early to determine a new opening date.
Gigi Kwik Gronvall, a University of Pittsburgh scientist who sat on the panel, declined to estimate how long a new review would take. "I know this is a dissatisfying answer, but it was not part of our charge to do that," Gronvall told the Globe.
Opponents of the facility praised the committee's conclusion.
"That sounds like it's squarely on what the community has been saying for years: There may be greater risk to placing this laboratory into this particular location, and that should be factored in," said Eloise Lawrence, a lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation, which represents activists opposing the site.
Former Boston City Council member Mel King, a longtime opponent of the project, suggested it should be scrapped entirely.
"We've got laws on the books that (say) three strikes and you're out," King said. "They're on their fourth strike. Give me a break" (Stephen Smith, Boston Globe, May 3).