[NukeNet] SF Chron, Herald on win against bio-war facility at Livermore Lab Site 300

[Marylia Kelley]

Hi, here are two of the articles on our victory stopping the siting of a
bio-warfare agent research facility at Livermore Lab's Site 300 in Tracy,
California (next door to Livermore). There is still much to do to change
U.S. biodefense policy, but we are savoring this win. I hope you enjoy
reading about it. Peace, Marylia

1. San Francisco Chronicle

UC out of the running for controversial biodefense lab

David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor <mailto:dperlman at sfchronicle.com>

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The University of California lost its bid Wednesday to build a huge new
biodefense lab where scientists would study highly dangerous microbes at
the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's property near Tracy,
federal officials announced Wednesday.

Scientists at the new defense facility would research some of the
world's deadliest disease-causing pathogens that terrorists or enemy
forces might employ as biological warfare agents, according to plans
disclosed a year ago by the Department of Homeland Security.

At that time, nearly 30 sites across the nation were under consideration
for the huge lab, and now only a few sites in five states are under
consideration -- Mississippi, Kansas, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia,
according to a Livermore spokesperson.

UC officials had lobbied strongly for selection of the Livermore lab as
home for the new facility. Livermore scientists had planned to locate
the lab at the Site 300 property near Tracy -- well away from the main
Livermore campus.

But local opposition may have helped derail the plan.

Tri-Valley Cares, the activist organization that has long been a thorn
in the side of the Livermore lab's nuclear weapons work, vigorously
lobbied against locating the new biodefense facility anywhere near Tracy
or Livermore.

More than 3,000 petitions and 2,000 e-mails from Tracy residents, plus
2,000 paid telephone messages carried by the Working Assets Long
Distance phone service, opposed the new lab, according to Marylia
Kelley, a leader of the organization formally known as Tri-Valley
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment.

The Tracy City Council also voted to oppose the lab, and the Homeland
Security proposal had listed community support as a major requirement
for selecting the final site, Kelley said.

"We're ecstatic," she said.

The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is planned as a huge, heavily
shielded structure covering more than 500,000 square feet -- larger than
five average Wal-Mart stores. Within the building, under a variety of
high-tech containment labs, scientists and technicians would study the
effects of the world's most dangerous microbes on animals and seek new
ways to protect both humans and domestic animals against the germs,
according to homeland security planners.

A statement from UC's Washington office said the university "is
disappointed" that it was not selected and added that it is "a leader in
the field of biotechnology and brings a wealth of knowledge and
expertise to the area of biosecurity research. We will continue to apply
our premier scientific and technological expertise to the homeland
security work of our nation."

<mailto:dperlman at sfchronicle.com>./
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/12/BAG61QV3GK1.DTL
This article appeared on page *B - 3* of the San Francisco Chronicle

2. Tri-Valley Herald

Site 300 doesn't make bio-lab list

Facility for studying contagions to be built outside California

By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER

Inside Bay Area / Alameda Newspaper Group

TRACY -- Federal officials have whittled down their list of potential
locations for a proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, and
Site 300, in the hills south of Tracy, is not on it.

The Department of Homeland Security selected sites in Mississippi,
Kansas, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia as finalists for the proposed
lab, much to the delight of local activists.

Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley Communities Against a
Radioactive Environment, called it "a major victory for the community."

"It's a victory the community as a whole has won," Kelley said. "This
facility is going to be one of the most dangerous bio-warfare agent
research facilities in the world, not just the country. It's going to be
bigger than five Wal-Marts."

The lab had proposed that the research laboratory be built at Site 300.
The facility, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, would
research and develop cures for life-threatening diseases affecting both
humans and animals.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory spokeswoman Susan Houghton said
officials were "extremely disappointed."

"We felt our proposal was extremely strong," she said. "We felt more
importantly that it was vital that a facility like this be located in
the state of California because there was a lot the state had to offer.
We don't know any of the specifics why our facility was not selected."

The facility will replace an aging, smaller lab at Plum Island, N.Y.,
where security lapses after the 2001 terrorist attacks drew scrutiny
from Congress and government investigators.

Congress provided money for the $47 million design and architecture, but
no money has been appropriated for construction or operations yet. The
site should be announced next year, and the lab should be operating by
2014.

The Plum Island lab conducts research on foot-and-mouth disease and
other germs to protect agriculture and livestock from foreign diseases.

The new lab will do that and research on other diseases and contagions,
possibly including anthrax, smallpox, and Marburg and Lassa, rare
hemorrhagic fevers that attack the vascular system.

The sites were chosen by a team from Homeland Security, along with the
departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.

One of the criteria examined by the panelists selecting the final sites
was community acceptance.

In January, the Tracy City Council voted 3-1 to send a letter opposing
the Site 300 proposal.

A grass-roots effort, spearheaded by Tri-Valley Cares, also collected
thousands of signatures in opposition.

"We don't want to see any unnatural hazards happen in any community,"
Kelley said.

"Even as we're celebrating our victory today, and it's a huge victory,
I'm going to sleep better tonight knowing the Ebola virus,
foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax are not coming to Site 300, but they
are still planned from some community."

Chris Harrington, a spokesman for the University of California, which
operates the Livermore Lab and Site 300, said even though their proposal
is no longer under consideration, the university remains committed to
working with Homeland Security in the future.

"UC is hopeful that the DHS will not rule out options to locate a bio-
and agro-defense facility in California in the future," Harrington said
in a prepared statement.

"California is the nation's largest food producer ó which includes the
largest dairy industry ó and the state that has the largest volume of
agricultural imports and exports through seaports and borders.

"Working with the DHS to ensure the safety of the multifaceted food
production and safety systems of California and the nation will remain a
high priority for UC."

Site 300 is still awaiting word on paperwork resubmitted to the San
Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to raise the amount of
outdoor explosives allowed during outdoor testing.

The permit application, filed April 6, said the lab anticipates using up
to 350 pounds per day and up to 8,000 pounds of explosives per year.

Among the dangerous materials expected to be found in the explosions are
thallium and depleted uranium, according to the application.

Last November, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory was granted permission to
expand its explosives testing from 1,000 to 8,000 pounds per year.

But the air district rescinded the permits following an appeal hearing
in February.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mike Martinez can be
reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez at trivalleyherald.com
<mailto:mmartinez at trivalleyherald.com>.

###



Marylia Kelley,
Executive Director

Tri-Valley CAREs
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA  94551

Ph: (925) 443-7148
Fx: (925) 443-0177
Web: www.trivalleycares.org
Email: marylia at trivalleycares.org or marylia at earthlink.net