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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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GAO Slams Feds for Plan to Build Disease Lab in Tornado Alley

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(Newser) – A Homeland Security plan to build a $700 million lab handling highly infectious animal diseases in Kansas' 'Tornado Alley' probably isn't the best idea it's had, the Washington Post reports. A withering report from the Government Accountability Office found that the DHS based its decision on a flawed, hastily done study that grossly underestimated the chances of pathogens infecting livestock if the lab was built in Kansas or elsewhere on the US mainland.

"They call it 'Tornado Alley' for a reason," says an attorney for a consortium that hoped to bring the facility to Texas. "This really boils down to politics at its very worst and public officials who are more concerned about erecting some gleaming new research building than thinking about what's best for the general public." The new lab is to replace an aging facility on an island off New York state.

This May 5, 2007 photo shows widespread destruction in Greensburg, Kan. after the city was destroyed by a tornado.
This May 5, 2007 photo shows widespread destruction in Greensburg, Kan. after the city was destroyed by a tornado.   (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)
Dead cattle are sprayed with disinfectant following a foot and mouth outbreak in Britain. Critics fear siting an animal disease research center in the US heartland could lead to more outbreaks.
Dead cattle are sprayed with disinfectant following a foot and mouth outbreak in Britain. Critics fear siting an animal disease research center in the US heartland could lead to more outbreaks.   (AP Photo / Owen Humphreys/PA)
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Drawing conclusions about relocating research with highly infectious exotic animal pathogens from questionable methodology could result in regrettable consequences. - Draft report from the Government Accountability Office

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12 comments
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Timinator2K
Jul 27, 09 8:02 AM CDT
Area 51's new next door neighbor. Reply
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+3
riffran
Jul 27, 09 8:14 AM CDT
a tornado dispersal system....hmmmmm....all kidding aside....if they just have to have a place like that it should be very isolated, like in a desert.....with little chance of contagion if it gets out Reply
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+2
schmidtkoff
Jul 27, 09 8:35 AM CDT
let's see. 5 states lobbying for the infectious disease facility. tornado alley recommended. let's just broadcast this to the bin laden wonk jobs for another potential strike zone. keep it on an island. Reply
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+3
Observer
Jul 27, 09 9:28 AM CDT
This facility should never be built. It prolongs the exceptional danger of gentically altered pathogens escaping into the ecosystem and spreading uncontrolled. Putting it in the middle of the country is asking for trouble. Reply
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+1
TerrifiedCitizen
Jul 27, 09 2:04 PM CDT
"a flawed, hastily done study". Oh, you mean a federal study? Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+2

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