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Proposed biosafety lab faces neighborhood opposition

Hospital Safety Connection, April 21, 2004

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A controversial bioresearch lab proposed for the south end of Boston drew hundreds of people to a city council hearing April 20, the Boston Herald reports.

About 150 attended the hearing on Boston University Medical Center's proposed lab, and another 100 were turned away and forced to watch the meeting on televisions. Many residents of nearby neighborhoods said they worry about the risk of an accident that could release lethal germs into the air.

Opponents want the city council to pass an ordinance banning high-security virus research from being conducted in Boston.

Boston University official Richard Towle said the new lab would play a vital role in the fight to counter emerging infectious diseases that are introduced either naturally or through bioterrorism. College officials detailed security measures that will be in place at the lab to protect employees and neighbors.

No research would be conducted at the lab on bioweapons or classified projects, Towle said.

The Boston University Medical Center needs approvals from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and state and federal environmental regulators to build the $178 million lab. About 660 people would work at the facility, which will receive most of its funding from federal grant money. The lab is scheduled to open in 2007.

The lab would be one of the few in the country where the most dangerous viruses would be handled, but Towle said such viruses would be limited to a small portion of the nine-story building.

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