Boston University has requested permission from city officials to begin training personnel early next year to work at a nearly finished biological defense laboratory, the Boston Globe reported today (see GSN, May 5).
Construction of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories is set to be finished at the end of August. University officials hope to begin safety, health and operations training in February for hundreds of people.
"This training period also will provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about how biosafety research in research labs is carried out and about the many safety protocols in place," said head laboratory investigator Mark Klempner.
Klare Allen, head of the local watchdog group Safety Net, expressed concerns about the building's security during the planned training.
"The bottom line is they have to be cognizant of who's going in and out of this building." Allen said. "We don't want anyone studying how to game this place."
Actual research on plague, Ebola and other deadly biological agents cannot begin at the site prior to completion of a new environmental risk assessment (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2007). The report is expected next year, the Globe said (David Abel, Boston Globe, Aug. 12).