Expansion of the W. R. Geidt Washington State Public Health Laboratory
Maralyn Chase, State Representative 32nd Legislative District
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008
The Washington State Public Health Lab is located in the Briacrest neighborhood at Fircrest. The Department of Health wants to expand the lab in order to meet its responsibilities as a member of "The Laboratory Response Network for Bioterrorism" (LRN) and the increasing spread of infectious diseases.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently released a study on "High-Containment Biosafety Laboratories", Oct. 4, 2007. As your representative in the State Legislature, I believe my mandate and responsibility is fight for what is fair and against that which is not, and to let everybody, at all times, know what is really going on.
I have raised questions about 1)the expansion plans of the lab itself in a neighborhood surrounded by schools and homes and 2)the role of the lab in meeting what the CDC terms "a low probability event with very large, potentially devastating consequences." Raising questions and asking hard questions is not fear mongering it is prudent precaution.
I have been told that there have been no accidents in the operation of the health lab at Fircrest. Because of that assurance, I have raised no questions about the existing operations whether it is newborn screening, venereal disease test analysis, sea food safety, food poisioning, measles and the like. To conduct a risk analysis of a safe lab is a waste of taxpayer's money. What is required is a risk analysis of the lab's role as the regional LRN and the expansion plans and activities of a lab with troubling safety requirements.
Maralyn Chase
State Representative 32nd Legislative District Olympia
Address: 433 JLOB PO Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600
District Office: Shoreline Center 18500 1st Avenue NE Shoreline, WA 98155
Olympia Tel.: 360-786-7880 District Tel: 260-366-2604
E-Mail: Chase_ma@leg.wa.gov