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Tom Menino says the bringing a Level 4 Biolab to
our city will be good for our city. What do you think?
- "Menino is determined to fast-forward a proposal to allow Boston
University to build a high security lab - called a Biosafety Level 4
Lab -
o Boston Globe "Menino and BUs biolab," Joan Venocchi, January
27, 2005
- The Biolab is not for use for research to find cures or treatment
for diseases such as AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria. It will not
be manufacturing vaccines or treating patients in the event of a terrorist
attack.
- The Biolab is to be used for research on the most dangerous biological
organisms, viruses and toxins that can cause deadly diseases for which
there are no known cures such as anthrax, Ebola, and smallpox. The are
the pathogens that can be used for biowarfare, the same pathogens that
are used as weapons of mass destruction.
o ACE: alternatives for community and environment, www.ace-ej.org
- Tom Menino has said that there is one of these labs in downtown Atlanta.
What he didn't tell you was that the Atlanta lab studies only one agent,
herpes B, a virus common in rhesus monkeys. It is rare in humans and
can only be contracted through scratches, bites and fluid contact from
these monkeys. It is not an airborne pathogen and is not transmitted
human to human. This Atlanta Lab is not the same as the proposed Boston
Level 4 Biolab.
- Over 150 scientists, including two Nobel laureates from Harvard have
openly opposed the Biolab by sending a letter to Tom Menino.
o The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, August 8, 2004 GSU lab harbors
deadly virus; U.S. has five such high security sites; two in Atlanta.
- These 150 scientists, physicians, public health specialist, and academics
oppose the Biolab being built in a densely populated urban area; there
are 50,000 people within one mile and more than one million people within
10 miles of the proposed site.
- There can be no guarantees, despite the high level security and safety
procedures, that there will be no accidents that might lead to the release
of the deadly air-borne pathogens through a possible breach of these
systems or when they are being transported through city streets on route
to the lab.
- Because of new federal laws, there will be no public oversight of
research at the lab, since it is classified, and the public may not
be informed of accidents if they should occur.
o No Place To Hide: An open letter to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Boston
City Councilors, and Boston University Trustees.
- Last November Tom Menino failed to inform the public when Boston University
had a breach in a lower level 2 biolab that resulted in three researchers
being infected with a bacterium called tularemia. B.U. officials and
the mayor waited almost 2 weeks to notify the public health authorities.
- "Boston University was wrong to delay its reporting. But Menino
is wrong, too. Is he so petrified of losing jobs that he is blinding
himself to legitimate public safety concerns?"
o The Boston Globe, January 27, 2005 Menino and BU's biolab
If we couldn't trust Tom Menino to disclose the
facts on the breach of the Level 2 Biolab how can we trust him to disclose
the real facts on the proposed Level 4 Bioterrorism Lab to be placed in
our community?
Shouldn't he be putting our safety first?
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