Boston Biolab Update
by Sujatha Byravan

In early February, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave final approval to Boston University's plan for the construction of a Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) lab on Albany Street in Roxbury and the South End of the city. NIH has provided BU a grant of $128 million for construction, which is expected to begin soon.

BSL-4 is the highest level of containment for a biological weapons research facility and scientists work with agents such as the Ebola virus, which cause diseases for which there are no known cures.

Like in the city of Cambridge, in Boston there is an existing ban on recombinant DNA research in a BSL-4 lab. The Boston Public Health Commission oversees this regulation. This ban serves as a precautionary measure, as scientists cannot predict the exact outcome of their recombinant DNA research. However, research in the new BSL-4 will certainly involve recombinant DNA research. In order to address this conundrum, the Public Health Commission has established a committee to review the matter. It seems likely that the committee will change the language of the regulation so that Boston University will be able to circumvent the ban.

In the meantime, groups that oppose the lab continue to organize public forums and educate the public on the potential impact of having a high-level bioterror research facility in their midst. Meetings organized by various groups to strategize on how to expand opposition to the lab also continue. There is political support for the lab from both senators Kennedy and Kerry and from Boston’s Mayor Menino. This kind of wide political support has made opposition to the lab incredibly challenging.

State Representative Gloria L. Fox, whose district is adjacent to the lab, has drafted legislation that, if passed, will regulate all biological weapons research in the state. It provides for oversight, emergency preparedness and community involvement. It is the first legislation of its kind and could serve as a model for other states across the country.

The Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on the Environment, co-chaired by Representative Frank Smizik and Senator Pamela Resor, is charged with revising Rep. Fox’s legislation. The Committee’s last redraft weakened the protections, but because of protests and phone calls from many people, it is now restoring some of the provisions that were removed. The Committee is expected to report on the legislation sometime soon. This legislation becomes especially important if local opposition fails to stop construction and will, hopefully, give residents some level of assurance of accountability and a voice in oversight. Although, given that the nature of the research and the fact that it is funded under the auspices of the Office of Homeland Security, one doubts that there will be any transparency.

Although BU and city officials repeat again and again that there have been no accidents in such labs, there have been cases of infected lab personnel leaving level-4 facilities and also of missing samples. See http://www.gene-watch.org/bubiodefense/pages/accidents.html for a list of accidents in biocontainment research facilities. CRG’s Web site has additional details on biological weapons research, educational materials and published newspaper articles.

While these recent developments make it challenging to oppose the lab, it does not necessarily mean that the lab cannot be prevented from operating. The level-4 component of a lab outside Toronto was kept from proceeding even after the construction was completed. And in the 1980s, there was controversy in Cambridge involving a lab built by Arthur D. Little that planned to undertake federally sponsored work on toxic chemical warfare agents. In that case, a citizen’s advisory committee unanimously recommended that the research be banned. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court later upheld this decision.

In February 2006, ten residents filed a lawsuit, which claims that the state’s approval of the environmental report and the transfer of federal property for the BSL-4 lab violated the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). The results of this lawsuit will be knows in a couple of months. Additional lawsuits, filed by residents, are likewise pending.

If you need more information on a panel discussion or a strategic meeting of local groups, please contact CRG (crg@gene-watch.org) or e-mail stopbioterror@ace-ej.org. For more on the history of the BU BSL4 lab, please see GeneWatch issues 17-1, 17-5/6, 18-2, 18-5 and 18-6.

Sujatha Byravan is the President of the Council for Responsible Genetics.