Source: Bloomberg
The federal government has underestimated the risks of building a lab for researching dangerous animal diseases in a densely populated area in the heart of cattle country, a report released Monday contends.
The National Research Council’s report notes that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security itself has estimated that there is a 70 percent chance a pathogen could be released from the lab within 50 years, and that it could cause up to $50 billion in damages.
Homeland Security officials have concluded that the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility would be safe. The $451 million lab would be built on the north side of the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan.
The research council calls the assessment “not entirely adequate or valid.”
The council, which is affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences, specifically avoids saying whether the new lab should be built in Kansas. But its report also says that the site — in the heart of cattle country and near Kansas State’s football stadium — adds to the risks.
The council’s 146-page report says Homeland Security’s assessment of the risks, completed in June, “had several major shortcomings.”
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