Biolab is as safe as scientists in it
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff
Aug 13, 2008
Make no mistake – when it eventually opens, the state-of-the-art biodefense lab nearing completion on the campus of Boston University Medical Center will fill a serious national security need. Once the legal issues are resolved scientists there will conduct research into deadly infectious diseases and pathogens that could be used against Americans.
And the building itself, well, Fort Knox has nothing on this place. It is a virtual fortress replete with every safety feature known to man and some unknown, too. Officials are preparing for everything from a simple trash can fire to a major (if highly unlikely) leak of a deadly toxin.
Ah . . . but have they prepared sufficiently for a Bruce Ivins?
Ivins, of course, was the government scientist who has been fingered by the Justice Department as the mastermind of the deadly anthrax plot of 2001.
Of all the troubling aspects of that tragic case we were struck by the fact that, despite evidence dating to 2000 that this deeply troubled man shared his feelings of paranoia and delusions with others, Ivins retained access to his lab and to the deadly anthrax spores therein. It was an enormous failure on the part of the government that only limited his access to the lab in 2007.
So yes, you can put up walls that are three feet thick and build layer upon layer of safety and health features to protect those who work in a building (or just live near one) like Fort Detrick in Maryland or this one in the South End, and the folks at BU and at the Department of Defense have done just that.
But the human element can not be underestimated. Those who oversee facilities like this one must be equally vigilant about the human failings and vulnerabilities upon which Ivins’ superiors failed to act.