BU details security for planned biolab
Boston Herald
October 14, 2004
A proposed laboratory where researchers would develop vaccines to combat bioterrorism would have a state-of-the-art security system to prevent leaks and attacks on the South End compound, a hospital official said yesterday.
Smaller, regional biosafety labs already exist in Atlanta, San Antonio and Winnipeg, and there has never been a leak or an attack at any of them, said Dr. Mark S. Klempner, associate provost for research at Boston University Medical Center.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases has chosen BUMC and the University of Texas at Galveston to build two national biocontainment laboratories that would develop drugs, vaccines and treatments against infectious diseases that occur naturally or are deliberately introduced through bioterrorism, such as anthrax, botulism, plague and smallpox.
We need to redouble our efforts to be prepared in this area,” Klempner said.
Boston’s lab would take up approximately 200,000 square feet and be set back 150 feet from Albany Street, a buffer zone required since the Oklahoma City bombing, he said.
To enter, employees would have to use an electronic card, have their irises scanned and pass through a portal manned by a security guard and equipped with closed-circuit TV, sensors and intrusion alarms.
Researchers would also have to sign in, collect a biocontainment suit that has its own air supply, coat the suit with dishwashing liquid and inflate it with an air hose to check for leaks before putting it on, and pass through a room that would be bathed in chemical disinfectant for five minutes.
The project is expected to cost some $176 million, and create 660 permanent jobs and 1,300 construction jobs.
Chamber President Paul Guzzi called the project “an extraordinary opportunity to change and improve the lives of people, not only in our region, but in our country.”
The public has until Nov. 8 to comment on the proposal. If the Boston Redevelopment Authority approves the plan, BUMC expects to open the lab in late 2007 or early 2008.
By Marie Szaniszlo, Boston Herald