Kansas NBAF Site Challenged

August 5, 2009 — 

The Manhattan, Kan. site selected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the proposed National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) is being challenged in Congress and in court.

Michigan Representatives Bart Stupak and John Dingell have raised concerns regarding the government's plan to move Foot and Mouth Disease research from a facility located on Plum Island New York to a mainland site located at the new facility to be built in Manhattan, Kansas. The lawmakers cite a recently released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which is critical of the process DHS used to evaluate the various proposed sites.

The GAO report (GAO-09-747) concludes that DHS potentially underestimated the impact of an accidental release of FMD. The report acknowledges that new technology has diminished the risk associated with high-containment laboratories but notes that accidents related to human error or facility failures do occur. In this regard, the GAO concludes that "Plum Island offers a unique advantage-with its water barrier and absence of animals-over the mainland." Kansas and DHS officials counter that the process was correct and peer-reviewed by Johns Hopkins and Lawrence Livermore and validated by USDA.

In addition, a Texas consortium that competed with Kansas to obtain the NBAF, recently filed a lawsuit to stop DHS from moving forward with the more than $500 million facility. A judge in the US Court of Federal Claims dismissed the suit on July 17 stating that it was premature. The judge noted that Congress must first appropriate the funds for construction of the facility before the site issue becomes pertinent. The Senate has passed its FY 2010 budget which includes $36.3 million for NBAF with certain conditions. The House budget does not contain any funds for NBAF pending resolution of the FMD issue.

[Editor's note: The real issue here is that the current facility at Plum Island is inadequate to conduct the type and scope of research necessary to protect US animal agriculture. Much of the facility is over 50 years old and in dire need of maintenance and renovation. I commend the researchers and employees who have worked at that facility over the years and produced remarkably high quality research, diagnostics, and vaccines in spite of the conditions under which they work. The laboratory at Plum Island does not have the necessary bio-containment facilities to conduct research on some of the pathogens encountered today. Nor does the facility have the large animal housing capacity to conduct research trials on the scale necessary to adequately address issues facing today's animal agriculture industry. US animal agriculture desperately needs a new facility to adequately address animal pathogens which could devastate American livestock production. But, the issue goes well beyond just selecting an appropriate site for the location of a new facility. There must also be adequate funding available to attract and retain world-class researchers and employees, promote research programs, and develop, validate and implement diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. The current budget for foreign animal disease research at Plum Island is a paltry $2.4 million. Facing the introduction of a foreign animal disease, the US livestock industry would lose that amount in a matter of hours. Animal agriculture cannot stand for this issue to continue to go unresolved, unaddressed, and under-funded.]