DHS Pathogen Lab To Be Built In "Tornado Alley" 275
Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that Department of Homeland Security is relying on a rushed, flawed study to justify its decision to locate the $700 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility for highly infectious pathogens in a tornado-prone section of Kansas. A GAO report says that it is not 'scientifically defensible' to conclude that lab can safely handle dangerous animal diseases in Kansas. Such research has been conducted up to now on a remote island on the northern tip of Long Island, NY. 'Drawing conclusions about relocating research with highly infectious exotic animal pathogens from questionable methodology could result in regrettable consequences,' the GAO warned in its draft report. Critics of moving the operation to the mainland argue that a release could lead to widespread contamination that could kill livestock, devastate a farm economy, and endanger humans. Along with the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, NBAF researchers plan to study African swine fever, Japanese encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, and other viruses in the Biosafety Level (BSL) 3 and BSL-4 livestock laboratory capable of developing countermeasures for foreign animal diseases. According to the article, DHS lobbied a Congressional committee to try and convince them that the GAO report was flawed, and to head off any hearings on the controversy. Despite this, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight and investigations subcommittee plans to hold a hearing Thursday on the risk analysis."
Just passing through, on the way to Rome (Score:1, Funny)
"My watch stopped."
"Durn shame."
"It's because of the heat." /obscure
Re:Two Words (Score:5, Funny)
True, putting the lab underground should prevent any problems.
Actually, putting the lab in anything but a trailerpark should reduce any risk a reasonable amount.
Tornados? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just passing through, on the way to Rome (Score:3, Funny)
"It's because of the heat."
Nah....it's the humidity.
Re:Hoof & Mouth Disease (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Tornados? (Score:2, Funny)
It's perfect. They'll be isolated because nobody wants to live in the area because tornadoes keep wrecking their homes and farms.
Solves the 'not in my backyard' problem. Well, until a tornado picks up the lab and drops it in somebody's backyard...
Re:Kansas is unsafe but Long Island isn't? (Score:5, Funny)
It's not risky --it's actually a security feature (Score:5, Funny)
Revolutionary. It will be resistant to terrorists attacks because it will obviously be _guarded_ by tornadoes.
Re:Let the environment help with containment (Score:3, Funny)
Living in Kansas is crazy cheap though. You can buy a legit house with a foundation and everything for 30k.
Re:Not offtopic, dumbasses (Score:1, Funny)
If moderators don't understand it, then it wasn't explained well enough.
Re:Let the environment help with containment (Score:2, Funny)
and if you don't like the location, just wait six months for nature to move your house somewhere else.
Clearly (Score:4, Funny)
They should put the lab in an underground complex under Raccoon City, Colorado. What could possibly go wrong?
Re:"Hey, I know!" (Score:5, Funny)
>4. That's more of a HR issue than anything else. My guess is it wouldn't be that big of an issue. How many super duper Level 5 trained people want to move out to some little island in the middle of the fucking Pacific ocean?
Substantially more than want to move to Kansas?
Re:Let the environment help with containment (Score:5, Funny)
Look at it this way: at least in Kansas, there's no way an escaped pathogen could evolve!
Re:"Hey, I know!" (Score:1, Funny)
Your karma called; it wants to know why you hate it so much.
Re:Kansas is unsafe but Long Island isn't? (Score:4, Funny)
I think the rebuttal is to ask you how many cows live in NYC ?
Apparently there are a lot [nyc.gov]
Re:"Hey, I know!" (Score:4, Funny)
Typical New Englander mentality: Fuck the Irish.
Re:Tornados? (Score:5, Funny)
Solves the 'not in my backyard' problem. Well, until a tornado picks up the lab and drops it in somebody's backyard...
I saw a documentary about that once. Apparently it caused some very strange mutations where the lab landed; there was evidence of quite a number of unusually small people, strange soporific meteorological events, at least one animal with increased intelligence (at the expense of certain other survival attributes) and one person with a markedly green complexion and behavior anomalies, rendered vulnerable by becoming highly water soluble. I think the pathogens were carried in eggs with a human vector.
Re:OMFG!!!! (Score:3, Funny)
*Heavy Sigh*
Any time reality starts imitating made for cable movies is a good time to break out the hemlock tea.
Re:Two Words (Score:3, Funny)
Just as long as it has a nuclear bomb in the middle, and warning lights carefully-timed to cause seizures.
Bird Flue (Score:4, Funny)
It's what my wife has, always sticking her foot into her mouth.
Funny, she's got bird flu too, from putting too much cock in her mouth.
Ba da bing!
Re:Kansas is unsafe but Long Island isn't? (Score:3, Funny)
Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Character) - Quotes
Kansas. Well, if we destroy Kansas the world may not hear about it for years.
Re:Two Words (Score:3, Funny)
How is anywhere on Long Island remote, compared to most of the US?
For the true Manhattanite, Queens is indeed remote.