High-security disease research laboratories that were originally scheduled for completion in 2005 remain unfinished at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday (see GSN, July 24, 2007).
The Biosafety Level 4 facilities are not yet certified for operation even though work finished more than two years ago in the $214 million building in which they are housed.
Officials at the federal health agency said the original schedule was not realistic. They said there are no major safety or construction issues with the laboratory suite, that research on lethal diseases is being conducted at existing BSL-4 facilities and that work on the new space will be completed at the earliest possible date.
"Commissioning a lab, particularly on this scale, is a complex process," said senior CDC official Stephan Monroe. "We won't take any shortcuts, jeopardize our workers or the safety of the public."
However, critics say the delay might point to problems with construction or design of facilities that would contain Ebola, smallpox and other potentially lethal pathogens.
"The CDC's new lab has been troubled almost from its inception," said U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.) head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been studying safety at biological defense facilities around the country.
"Its history of contracting problems, design flaws and construction delays does not engender confidence and is worthy of a closer look by this committee," he added this week.
"The extent of this delay suggests there may be fundamental issues regarding infrastructure or safety or security that need to be addressed," said Rutgers University biosafety expert Richard Ebright.
Officials in Atlanta said there are no significant problems with the site and that delays for the laboratories are not outside the norm.
The Journal-Constitution noted that a June 2007 lightning strike caused an hourlong power loss at the building that allowed the BSL-4 area to lose negative air pressure. The pressure feature is among the systems intended to prevent the escape of dangerous disease material. The backup power glitch that allowed the outage to occur has been corrected, according to CDC officials.
The agency has made safety and security improvements to the building since receiving it from contractors. Additional inspections and certification paperwork must be completed before the laboratories can open, officials said (Alison Young, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 15).