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BY THE BOOK
New regs could block BU’s biosafety lab
BY DEIRDRE FULTON

Everyone knows that the battle over Boston University’s proposed Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) laboratory is being fought over one thing: safety. Since the beginning, security has been the weightiest concern of both opponents and supporters of the lab, which, if approved, will study infectious diseases and handle dangerous biological agents.

Knowing this, it may come as a surprise that a comprehensive safety regulation does not exist, in Massachusetts or nationally, to govern high-containment biological laboratories like the one BU wants to build. There are plenty of safety guidelines, licensing procedures, and stringent case-by-case national, state, and city approval processes, such as those BU is currently undergoing. But there is no inclusive law that outlines standards for siting the lab, threat evaluation, safety planning, or post-construction oversight.

The absence of such regulations puts citizens at risk, says State Representative Gloria Fox, who represents the communities in Roxbury and the South End that will be most affected if BU constructs the lab. "There is no regulation — none, nada," she says. When asked why the existing protocols aren’t enough, Fox says, "There are some guidelines ... I think guidelines are what everybody gets around."

That’s why Fox introduced legislation to replace potentially pliable guidelines with set-in-stone regulations that would come under the jurisdiction of the state departments of Environmental Protection and Public Health. The bill will have a public hearing next week. If her colleagues in the House and Senate (more than 40 of whom have signed on as co-sponsors) pass the bill, the lab’s approval would be placed on hold to evaluate the project under the new terms. Fox doubts BU’s lab would get through the first round: "I think it would definitely say you do not place a most-dangerous lab in the heart of the city."

In fact, BU agrees. Fox’s bill is written in a way that "would prevent the siting, construction, and operation of any Level 4 lab in Massachusetts," according to a BU Medical Center (BUMC) fact sheet written in response to the legislation. And it would create additional red tape for already-existing labs in the state, according to BUMC spokeswoman Ellen Berlin.

New regulations are unnecessary, Berlin says, because so many standards are already in place. "It’s because of these regulations that what we do is as good as it is and as safe as it is," she says.

Still, it’s worth noting that one of the bodies BU has so far relied on for permitting and inspections — the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority — slapped a lower-level BU lab with 80 minor violations between 2000 and 2004.

The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture will hear Fox’s bill on Thursday, June 9 at 1 p.m. in Room B-1 of the State House.


Issue Date: June 3 - 9, 2005
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