Jackson Free Press

Alert: The government's deadline for comments on the bio-lab facility is Monday, Aug. 25. See below for contact info.

The U.S. government has not adequately determined the safety of a proposed bio-defense lab that could land in Madison County if many local supporters get their way. The non-partisan Government Accountability Office warned Congress this summer that it may not be safe to allow the Department of Homeland Security to relocate the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Facility—often called just FMD—from an island off the coast of New York to one of six proposed inland locations. One of the possible locations is tiny Flora, Miss.

"We found that DHS has not conducted or commissioned any study to determine whether FMD work can be done safely on the U.S. mainland," the study states, and goes on to cite numerous reasons to keep such a lab off-shore, isolating chances of spreading the disease, which has no cure.

"[A]ccidents, while rare, still occur because of human or technical errors," the report concludes. With this facility, such an accident could put Flora at ground zero for an FMD outbreak, devastating the U.S. livestock industry.

The GAO report also disagrees with the $2.8 billion to $4.2 billion in "total nationwide cost" of an FMD outbreak promised in an Aug. 5, 2008, DHS presentation in Flora. Citing the 2001 outbreak in the United Kindgdom—totaling some $30.4 billion in losses over all industry sectors and necessitating the slaughter of more than 6 million animals —the report says actual costs in the U.S. for a similar outbreak could be considerably higher.

"The total cash value for U.S. livestock in 2007 was $141.4 billion. The total export value of red meat in 2007 was $6.4 billion," the report states. "These values represent the upper bound of estimated losses" to the livestock industry, with additional indirect costs, including unemployment, "which could ripple through other sectors of the economy as well."

The Department of Homeland Security has been evaluating several sites across the country for a national bio and agro-defense facility, and Flora is on the short list of six finalists, to the delight of Gov. Haley Barbour, Flora's Mayor Scott Greaves, and Rep. Chip Pickering, among others, including the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

"The main reason would be to participate in protecting our nation's national security, but more selfishly, wherever the facility's located, it will prompt the biotech and biosciences environment that will really help in economic development as well," Duane O'Neill, president and CEO of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, told the Jackson Free Press. O'Neill is also spokesman for the Gulf States Bio and Agro-Defense Consortium

That consortium includes a number of public and private interests, including the governor's office, Louisiana's Tulane University, Iowa State, University of Texas Medical Branch, plus Mississippi's Alcorn State, Jackson State, Mississippi State, Mississippi Valley State, Tougaloo, Ole Miss, and the University Medical Center. It also includes the private, non-profit Batelle Memorial Institute, which would run the lab if the Flora site is selected.

Residents of Flora seem to be on board with the proposal, which would move much of the research for communicative large animal disease from an aging Plum Island lab. In addition to foot and mouth disease, the proposed $451 million lab would research other bovine and swine diseases that are not harmful to humans, and two diseases classified as BSL-4. That designation is reserved for diseases that "pose a high risk of life-threatening disease in animals and humans through the aerosol route and for which there is no known vaccine or therapy," according to the DHS June 2008 draft environmental impact statement for the project.

Just over 100 people attended a public hearing in Flora Aug. 5, with a lone attendee, Lynda Hays, taking a dissenting stance.

"I just want to know, how does this benefit us?" Hays asked, as reported by The Clarion-Ledger.

With jobs scarce in Mississippi, the official consensus is that bringing such a facility into the state would begin a research and development boom.

"This is a gigantic opportunity, not just for Flora and central Mississippi, but for the whole state," Barbour told The Clarion-Ledger.

Other towns the DHS is considering for the lab aren't quite as enthusiastic.

The Raleigh, N.C., City Council voted unanimously to oppose the lab in the neighboring city of Butner, and wrote a letter to the DHS requesting they remove the site from consideration. Citizens asked the DHS whether the release of infectious pathogens could spread through air, surface water, wastewater, or through animal or human contact.

"We just felt that was not thoroughly addressed," said Jayne Kirkpatrick, Raleigh's public affairs director.

Raleigh, like Jackson, is a county away and downstream from the proposed lab site. And, although Raleigh did not have hard evidence that the lab's pathogens could be spread through the water supply, Kirkpatrick said DHS never said they couldn't be, never said how they were going to assure against potential water contamination, or what their response would be in the event of a leak. The city also had concerns about general security and fire protection the DHS did not address. Durham, N.C., voiced the same concerns and came to the same conclusion.

O'Neill downplayed those concerns last week. "This facility is like a submarine inside a bank vault. The reason it costs so much to build is the redundancy of security measures," O'Neill said, saying if he and his family lived right next door, he wouldn't oppose it. O'Neill compared the lab to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, which is in a highly populous area and also deals with deadly pathogens.

Grady Thrasher III of Athens FAQ, a citizen's group formed in 2007 to oppose the proposed lab in Athens, Ga., says the CDC comparison is disingenuous.

"It's all wishful thinking," Thrasher said. "The CDC has these very small containment areas to study pathogens. This thing will be as big as a football field with a herd of large cows in it. They're going to be spraying those cows; they're going to be releasing mosquitoes to infect the cows. And then they're going to have literally thousands of pounds of infected meat to dispose of. They've never tried anything like this before."

In addition, Thrasher said, the lab will have to dispose of thousands of pounds of infected waste, something on the order of 100 pounds of waste per cow, per day.

The potential boom also comes with a big up-front price tag for Madison County and the state of Mississippi. Flora would need to make numerous infrastructure improvements including roads, water tanks and wells. Entergy would need to build a new substation to provide enough electricity.

"It's really a return on investment," said O'Neill. "We're financing a lot of this, not all of it, but a lot of it through $88 million (in) bonds. That's what the Legislature passed … to allow us to have the site ready. That is similar to other sites in the competition."

Permanent new job estimates range from 250 to 350, most of those for experienced, highly skilled researchers the likes of which are not currently available in Mississippi, and who would likely be imported from Plum Island.

"They're going to be imported, I'm sure," Kirkpatrick said. "Other than that, maybe a couple more fast-food restaurants. It's not going to have far-reaching economic impact." Temporary construction jobs for the lab could number up to 1,600.

On Aug. 20, Larry Margasak of the Associated Press raised issues of political favoritism, pointing out that DHS ignored its own evaluations, which rank the Flora site 14th among 17 original U.S. sites under consideration. Nine sites that ranked higher were eliminated, but Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Sen. Thad Cochran is the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees DHS spending, raising the specter of "the Bush administration's politicizing of government decisions."

"We're pleased and happy that our congressional delegation works to help Mississippi," O'Neill said, "but I think if you look at the other states a lot of them are the same."

"We think we have the dream team of all the proposals," he added.

[Updated Aug. 23 to include quotes from interviews]

The Department of Homeland Security's information on the proposed facility.

Homeland Security will consider your comments regarding the location of the lab but ONLY through Monday, August 25. After that, it's all over but the shouting.

You can write, fax or call in your comments as follows:

Online: e-mail [e-mail missing]

Toll-Free Voice Mail (24/7): 1-866-501-NBAF (6223)

Toll-Free Fax: 1-866-508-NBAF (6223)

U.S. Mail: U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Science and Technology Directorate; James V. Johnson; Mail Stop #2100; 245 Murray Lane, SW; Building 410; Washington, D.C. 20528

Also see: Flora Bio Facility a 'Prime Terrorist Target'?, an earlier JFP posting, which includes many links to information and news stories in other areas being considered for the facility.

Previous Comments

ID

133489

Comment

Since we started talking about this bio-lab issue online, and WAPT did a story, e-mails have been flooding our boxes of people trying to get others to pledge support for this project -- but without providing them adequate information, and certainly with no mention of the GAO report. This one came several times today; the one I got was addressed to 800 people. We urge all of you to send out the link to Ronni's story above to show people that there is much more to this than the quick talking points in the e-mails going around: Dear Friends, Family, and Co-workers, I have been asked to get everyone's support on the recent efforts to bring the National and Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to Flora, MS. Recently you have noticed a lot of media coverage pertaining to this facility. We believe this latest flurry of news questioning the merit of our proposal will actually be helpful to our effort. In fact, the misleading facts have allowed us to respond with the "true facts' of why Mississippi is best qualified to win this competitive process based on our MERITS. In each of the four important categories on which to be evaluated; research capabilities, workforce, our proposed site, and community support, we score extremely well. But here is where we need your help. Community support is very strong and the DHS team which has been to Mississippi realizes that fact. However, for the official record, they have encouraged us to have more written comments of support submitted to DHS before the closing date of August 25, 2008. Every comment is important regardless if you are an elected official or a young person in high school. Bottom line is we need each and every one of you to participate. The letter we need you (and others you can approach to join us) to submit does not need to be long. A couple of sentences or a paragraph is just fine. If you want to say more, that is great, but the key is to just send something POSITIVE! A few very general ideas to spark your thoughts could include, but are in no way limited to: * I live in Flora/Madison County/Jackson area/Mississippi/ and would be proud to have the facility here. * I would be happy/privileged to be a part of protecting our nation's security against bioterrorism. * I believe the facility is safe and secure. * We have a great quality of life and people will want to move here to work in collaboration with the NBAF. * We have great education institutions. * This will help to keep our bright young people in MS. As stated, these are just basic thoughts to generate your ideas, but please use any personal references that are appropriate for you.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-22T18:40:58-06:00

ID

133490

Comment

So, why didn't The Clarion-Ledger mention the GAO warnings in its glowing endorsement of the bio-lab earlier this month? Remember, they also endorsed Melton and Bush for the second term. Ledger support is one of the better reasons I can think of to really scrutinize this project. Again, how in God's green acre could they not deal with the GAO warnings?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-22T18:47:28-06:00

ID

133491

Comment

Click here to view an AP video in which Roger Breeze, former director of Plum Island, talks about how senseless it is to bring the study of FMD virus to the mainland. "Virus is carried on workers' breaths, etc."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-22T18:55:41-06:00

ID

133494

Comment

Donna, pardon me for being a cynic, but how much of this opposition is coming from out of state?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-23T09:03:29-06:00

ID

133495

Comment

Iron, you're always a cynic, and often in ways that make no sense, like this time. The most powerful opposition is coming from the Government Accounting Office, which technically is outside Mississippi and typically is right (even when dumb politicians of either party ignore its findings). We cannot afford them to be right on this and ignore their warnings. Otherwise, the JFP is opposing this facility anywhere on the mainland, based on real facts—not just the ones being disseminated by the project's supporters inside the state. Plenty of that information is going around; note how little of the rest of the story Mississippians have been told so far. The Clarion-Ledger, for one, strikes out again for one-sided, kiss-ass journalism.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-23T09:20:38-06:00

ID

133496

Comment

I'm proud to be a cynic. I was seeing a "We don't want this here!" movement, and wanted to make sure there wasn't a "We don't want it in Mississippi either!" movement as well. We've lost things in the past because of that, I'm pretty sure. I think it's fine to oppose a project like this on logical grounds, and there are plenty of things to question about this project.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-23T09:36:17-06:00

ID

133497

Comment

Don't cynics question the "conventional wisdom"? It sounds to me like you were criticizing cynicism. Instead, why don't you ask why other cities don't want it, Iron? We've also had a bunch of crap dumped on us because our citizens are too compliant to question things and read past the press release. It is very Mississippi to kneejerk into taking the opposite view of places where the citizenries tends to be more active about seeking information, but that sure doesn't make it smart to do so. We're intelligent enough in this state to ask real questions and demand real answers. We need to get past this ignorant stepchild mentality.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-23T09:52:20-06:00

ID

133499

Comment

Relax, Donna. I was agreeing there are plenty of critical questions to ask about this lab before it goes in. It may be in the best interests of Flora to turn it down over contamination issues. I will also defend the idea that it is our decision to make; it's not for others to decide.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-23T11:09:51-06:00

ID

133501

Comment

Iron, I think it's that jerky knee of yours that needs to relax a tad. ;-) I will also defend the idea that it is our decision to make; it's not for others to decide In this case, that's exactly wrong. We don't get to decide. But we can at least register our concerns if we bother.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-23T11:56:23-06:00

ID

133504

Comment

The story has been updated to include quotes from three interviews.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2008-08-23T13:39:13-06:00