Health Lab and Bioterrorism
The Public Health Laboratory in our neighborhood has been part of the Department of Homeland Security's Laboratory Response Network for Bioterrorism since 1999 and further developed after 9/11 and the anthrax attack in 2001 under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. At that time the PHL was designated as the primary reference laboratory facility for the State of Washington in case of terrorist attack. Because this new mission was attached to an existing laboratory we did not have an open discussion of whether or not this new mission should be located in our neighborhood.
The DOH described the PHL BSL3 facility as "the single point for delivery for suspected biological, chemical or radiological terrorism samples." Most importantly, "a means of safely receiving terrorism samples without risking contamination of personnel, the environment or the facility must be provided to ensure the facility will continue to operate throughout the terrorism event. In order to accommodate the terrorist response functions, it is likely that a large-scale terrorism response would have impacts extending beyond the immediate site causing shutdowns or disruptions to nearby facilities and would probably not be acceptable to City officials." (DOH, June 2006). The PHL has plans to expand even more and has put in place infrastructure in anticipation of these future facility expansions.
These precautions suggest two types of terrorist events to consider from a risk and vulnerability assessment: one would only be discovered after victims started showing up in hospital emergency rooms; the other would be a direct attack on the lab itself as a terrorist target. Is this what we want in our neighborhood?
The risk assessment currently underway suggests that the risk assessment will be a continuation of the stealth expansion of the PHL both in the size of its facility and the mission it has undertaken. A mid-point stake-holder meeting is scheduled at the Health Lab for Friday, Sept. 26, from 3 to 6. A draft report from the team will be posted on the PHL web site on October 17, discussion on Oct. 24, and open house on November 6. Whether we can affect the process or merely learn what has been decided for us remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
Charlie Brown
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