A much-contested plan to build a $450 million government biodefense research lab has hit another snag: A group of Texas research organizations that lobbied for San Antonio to house the lab says it will sue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over its choice of site -- Manhattan, Kansas.
linkurl:The Texas Biological and Agro-Defense Consortium;http://www.nbafsanantonio.org/aboutTBAC.html earlier this week (April 22) filed a notice of its intent to sue DHS, a required step for suits against the government. They argue that the choice of Kansas for the site of the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF), which would handle the world's most dangerous pathogens, was based on political machinations and overlooks the danger frequent tornadoes would pose to the facility. John Kerr, chairman of the group, said that locating NBAF in Manhattan, Kan., would be "grossly irresponsible, the equivalent of playing...
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Image: USDA, via Wikipedia |
Associated PressAPCorrection (April 27): The original version of this story mistakenly named hurricanes instead of tornadoes as the danger posed by locating the NBAF facility in Kansas. The Scientist regrets the error.
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