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In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to replace the old Plum Island Animal Disease Center off Long Island with a facility on the U.S. mainland to study Foot and Mouth Disease and other dangerous pathogens. Kansas won the job in 2008, with a site on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan.But today, more than three years later, the proposed $1.14 billion National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility faces funding obstacles, safety questions, rising costs and political fallout. For Kansas and the Midwest, the stakes couldn’t be higher.Here you’ll find coverage and updates from Harvest Public Media, KCUR and Kansas Public Media.

Public Hearing In Washington D.C. Looks At Alternatives For NBAF

In its first public hearing today in Washington , D.C. a new panel of the National Research Council will discuss alternatives for the National Bio and Agro -Defense Facility  -- or NBAF.

The committee will NOT look at risk, or location.  A separate NRC committee is taking on those questions.

Chairman of the committee, Dr. Terry McElwain said in an interview last night that the group would be looking at several possibilities.  One would be to build the NBAF as currently designed.  Another would be to scale back the current design and work with  the existing capabilities at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center off the coast of New York.  That's where all the high security, large animal disease research is going on now.  Finally, McElwain says the committee could recommend scaling back NBAF and working with other high biocontainment  labs around the U.S. or abroad.

Critics of the NBAF don’t want the lab in Kansas, where such a huge number of livestock are raised.  They worry about the release of a deadly pathogen, especially the highly contagious Foot and Mouth Disease.  Others are criticizing the mushrooming expense of the lab in a time of  extreme budget cuts.

Supporters say the concentration of animal science and food safety research in the area  makes Kansas State University  the perfect site for the lab.

 

As Kansas City grows and diversifies, journalists need to listen to the people, to your challenges and successes..As engagement and solutions editor, I’ll make sure we’re framing stories based on what we hear from you, and we’ll partner with communities so our stories help us understand and connect to one another. Email me at lauraz@kcur.org.
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