Plans for a Biosafety Level 4 containment linkurl:lab;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23468/ at Boston University hit another bump in the road yesterday (December 13), when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously that the state's environmental approval process for the project had been deeply flawed. The assessment echoed a recent National Research Council linkurl:review,;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53944/ which concluded last month that the NIH had also flubbed an environmental assessment of the project and did not adequately assess the safety risks. The ruling will not halt construction of the facility, which is 70% complete, the Boston Globe linkurl:reports;http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/14/ruling_may_stall_opening_of_biolab/ today. But it will require the university to complete another safety review in order to receive the needed permits for BSL4 work.
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