Filed at 11:11 a.m. ET
Updated:
Tuesday December 30, 2008
Updated:
Tuesday December 30, 2008
GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDS KANSAS FOR NBAF
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ATHENS GROUP GLAD BIOLAB NOT COMING TO TOWN
"WE WILL ACCEPT THE BLAME, BUT WE CAN'T TAKE CREDIT" Click Here
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DRAINS OVERFLOW AT LAB - UGA FACILITY CONTAMINATED
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VET SCHOOL LEAK KEPT QUIET
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LAB'S 'MINOR INCIDENTS' STIR MAJOR DOUBTS
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ANTHRAX CASE RENEWS QUESTIONS ON BIOTERROR EFFORT
From The New York Times:
With so many people involved, there is insufficient federal oversight of biodefense facilities to make sure the laboratories follow security rules and report accidents that might threaten lab workers or, in an extreme case, lead to a release that might endanger the public, Mr. Rhodes testified.
Mr. Stupak, the congressman from Michigan, remains concerned.
“You have all these universities tripping over each other trying to be high-level biosecurity labs,” he said. “What the nation gets is a very expensive bill, less security and a greater risk to the surrounding communities.” Click here for full story
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FOOT-AND-MOUTH PLAN USED FLAWED STUDY
"The Bush administration has no evidence to support its contention that it would be safe to move research on highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease to the U.S. mainland near livestock, congressional investigators said Thursday....Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said plans by the Department of Homeland Security were not only "baffling, but dangerous." Click Here
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HOMELAND SECURITY WINS CONTROL OVER FOOT-AND-MOUTH RESEARCH
(5/7/08) - "Lawmakers on Wednesday tentatively agreed that national security officials should fully control the expected transfer of research of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease from an offshore laboratory to the U.S. mainland near livestock...The numbers of livestock in the counties and surrounding areas of the finalists range from 542,507 in Kansas to 132,900 in Georgia, according to an internal Homeland Security study." Click Here
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SCIENTIST'S ATTORNEY SAYS UGA SPREAD FALSE DATA TO WIN GRANTS
(4/18/08)“I can fully appreciate the ramifications it would have on the University of Georgia’s bid to become a national center for agro-bioterrorism research if President Adams were to truthfully acknowledge the role his office has played in the fabrication of scientific data..." Click Here
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CHECK OUR NEWS PAGE FOR THE LATEST COVERAGE.....
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$25M PLUS IN INCENTIVES FOR NBAF
"Georgia officials have offered more than $25 million in incentives to draw a federal research laboratory to Athens....The state of Georgia will provide about $15 million, the UGA Research Foundation $5 million and Athens-Clarke County about $1 million in incentives if Homeland Security picks 66 acres off South Milledge Avenue to build the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. That doesn't include free land valued at about $5.3 million." Click here
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ACCIDENTS AT DISEASE LAB ACKNOWLEDGED
"The only U.S. facility allowed to research the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease experienced several accidents with the feared virus, the Bush administration acknowledged Friday." (04/11/08) Click here
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BIOLAB PITCH A SECRET
"A University of Georgia-led group is considering spending more money to draw a federal bioresearch laboratory to Athens, but taxpayers might never know."
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FEDS WANT POWER PLANT FOR NBAF
"The federal government has asked Kansas and other states vying for a new Department of Homeland Security laboratory to commit to building a power plant for the facility, officials confirmed Friday."
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"Georgia officials, including spokesmen for the University of Georgia, Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, said Homeland Security hasn't asked Georgia to build a power plant as far as they know...." Click here
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DHS RELEASES EIS SCOPING REPORT
FROM THE DHS WEBSITE "The NBAF environmental impact statement (EIS) scoping period occurred from July 31 through September 28, 2007. During that time, the Department conducted eight public meetings in the vicinity of the proposed NBAF sites and in one regional location. The results of this process are documented in the NBAF EIS Scoping Report"
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Against Opposition: Homeland Security Defends NBAF - Oconee Leader ....Click here to read
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Raleigh, N.C. — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose a federal bio-defense laboratory proposed for Granville County....click here to read
From The Flagpole:"Davison reiterated that the NBAF proposal will not be debated by ACC Commissioners “on the floor,” and that they will not be expected to take formal action on the matter..." click here to read
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REPORT FROM NORTH CAROLINA'S DHS 2/21 MEETING "Frank allowed and facilitated a format of questions that pressed the DHS for answers to all questions. Having been present at both meetings, I only wish the same format would have been afforded to the concerned residents of Athens. In Athens if the DHS didn’t completely answer a question they were not pressed further and no follow-up questions were allowed...." Click here
WHY WERE NO FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS ALLOWED AT THE ATHENS MEETING? According to a 2/14/08 UGA Press Release "Each person approaching the microphone will be allowed one initial question and one follow-up question."
Click here
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Plum Island: Deadly Diseases on the Move?
AP Video
Edward Hammond of The Sunshine Project
talks about The Myths of NBAF
Click here for Videos
Download a Flyer!
Download and print this informational flyer to spread the word about why we don't want NBAF. Click Here to Download a Flyer.
Download Edward Hammond's Slide Presentation The Myths of NBAF here (.pdf document)
DO YOU HAVE A LETTER, COMMENTARY OR FORUM THAT WAS NOT PUBLISHED IN THE LOCAL PRESS? Please send it to director@athensfaq.org, and we will post it here.
By PATRICK FOX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, December 06, 2008
An Athens citizens group says it is proud to have helped stop a bid by the state to land a $450 million laboratory to study biological threats for the federal government.
Vocal opponents cost Athens a $700 million federal animal disease research laboratory, Gov. Sonny Perdue said Friday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security officially released a lengthy study Friday that recommends Manhattan, Kan., over four other finalists, including Athens, for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. The study's executive summary leaked Wednesday.
Grassroots opposition to the proposed National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility probably helped derail a University of Georgia bid to bring the $700 million lab to Athens.
Still, UGA must move on to new research challenges, UGA President Michael Adams said Thursday.
"I think the report indicates that (opposition played a role). You'll never know why completely. But I don't think it was because of the quality of the science," Adams said.
A final recommendation on siting of the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility is likely within two weeks, a top project aide said Thursday.
By Kathy Prescott | Athens Banner-Herald
I applaud the Banner-Herald for its Nov. 12 editorial, "Lab's 'minor incidents' stir major doubts," and its reference to a "minor incident" mindset at the University of Georgia's Animal Health Research Center.
Feds to act before Obama takes helm
By BLAKE AUED | blake.aued@onlineathens.com
The Department of Homeland Security will pick a site for a proposed massive animal disease research laboratory before President-elect Obama takes office Jan. 20.
The final version of a study that will guide officials as they decide whether to build the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Athens or another site is scheduled to be released in early December, Homeland Security spokesman John Verrico said.
By ANA RADELAT
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's lame-duck status could affect a long-awaited decision on whether to build a new federal research lab in Flora, and the choice is likely to be made now by the Obama administration.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tom Jackson nailed it.
In an Oct. 7 e-mail to UGA College of Veterinary Medicine administrators, the University of Georgia vice president for public affairs wrote "there are no 'minor incidents' " when it comes to the operation of a high-security biocontainment laboratory containing animal diseases that also can affect people.
UGA's liaison panel at first not told of mishaps
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, November 09, 2008
By Lee Shearer
The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine didn't inform a community liaison committee about potentially serious leaks in a high-security biocontainment building until reporters learned about the leaks.
