DHS Issues Draft EIS on Proposed National Bio, Agro-Defense Facility

July 14, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

The proposed NBAF is a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would establish a laboratory facility to study both foreign animal and zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans.

The NBAF would be designed to replace the existing facilities at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) in New York.

PIADC is the only facility in the U.S. that studies the live virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease, according to DHS.

The PIADC facility is too small to meet new research needs and has an outdated physical structure that makes it unsuitable for zoonotic disease research that must be conducted at a high level of biosafety, BSL-4, said DHS.

There is no laboratory facility in the U.S. for BSL-4 research on livestock.

No decision has been made yet on where or if the facility would be built, said DHS.

The science and technology directorate is conducting a review to evaluate each option with the feedback of all interested parties before any decision is made.

The Draft EIS analyzes the proposal to design, construct and operate the NBAF including risk assessments for each of the six proposed NBAF locations: Athens, Ga.; Manhattan, Kan.; Madison County, Miss.; Granville County, N.C.; San Antonio, Texas and Plum Island, N.Y. The Draft EIS also analyzes a no-action alternative in which a new facility is not built.

The NBAF Draft EIS as well as information on submitting comments during the 60-day comment period is available at www.dhs.gov/nbaf.

The NBAF Final EIS is expected in late fall 2008.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).