Biolab loses political support

Forum tonight aims to fight Butner project

With safety questions mounting about a proposed animal disease research lab in Butner, opposition has flourished, and political leaders in Granville County have withdrawn their support for the project.

A local group, the Granville Non-Violent Action Team, is holding a public forum tonight to gather information and build opposition to the project as the federal site selection process continues.

"The grassroot efforts and nonresponse of the Department of Homeland Security has made people question it," said Bill McKellar, a pharmacist and organizer with the citizens group. "We don't need something to study [exotic diseases] in Granville County."

North Carolina is one of five states being considered for the $450 million research facility, known as National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. It would study pathogens that could be biological threats against the United States. The other sites are in Georgia, Texas, Kansas and Mississippi.

Last week, the Granville County commissioners joined two towns in voting to withdraw the welcome mat for the lab, saying the federal government hadn't responded to residents' concerns about safety aspects of the lab.

"Our people were just not being treated the way they should," said James Lumpkins, chairman of the Granville commissioners. "It's a lot of unknowns out there. When you look at what they would study, it brings fear into people's lives -- what could backfire and what it could bring to our close-knit community."

A consortium that includes N.C. State and other area universities, government agencies, private companies and trade associations has been pressing to bring the 520,000-square-foot lab to Butner.

Supporters say the lab will mean more than 500 scientific, technical and administrative jobs for the Triangle. In addition, they say, it would rain research dollars on universities and raise the area's profile as a leading center of biotechnology. The livestock lab would be built on 195 acres at the state's Umstead Research Farm.

Warwick Arden, dean of the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, who has been involved with the consortium, said the Granville commissioners' decision was understandable politically, since four are up for re-election this year.

"I don't read this as a major reversal," Arden said. "I read this that county commissioners would like more information from the federal government. They're under intense pressure and scrutiny from environmental groups."

Arden said support remains strong among the universities and state agencies in the region.

Claims, counterclaims

Both sides have accused their opponents of putting out misinformation. Those who are fighting the research lab say the potential safety risks have been downplayed. Meanwhile, supporters have called such concerns fear-mongering. They say opponents are mischaracterizing the lab as a bio-weapons research facility, implying it would be developing weapons rather than studying how to counter threats.

"If I thought for a minute this was a bio-weapons facility, I wouldn't be associated with it," Arden said.

The Department of Homeland Security is doing an environmental study of potential sites, to be finished in the spring.

Amy Kudwa, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the department has decided to add a round of meetings to answer questions from residents. The schedule hasn't been set.

The Department of Homeland Security will also hold a public hearing in the spring after releasing the environmental study. The agency's schedule calls for picking a site this fall.

The Raleigh City Council submitted a list of questions it wants answered in the environmental study about the effects the lab could have on Falls Lake, the city's water source.