[statecom-discuss] Re: FW: Hundreds turn out for BioDefense Lab hearing at Faneuil Hall !!!!....Hearing occurred Thursday eve immediately following "Open House" at 1199SEIU new Boston office.

Sun Sep 23 13:48:25 EDT 2007

Howard Rotman wrote:

>
> *SOUTH END NEWS LINK:
> *
> _http://southendnews.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=30A8E67FDA3E407A9502CC5A73F64194&tier=4&id=422AD405800B423085F1C45A9FA76931 
> <http://southendnews.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=30A8E67FDA3E407A9502CC5A73F64194&tier=4&id=422AD405800B423085F1C45A9FA76931>_ 
>  
>
> *
> South End News
> **
> Hundreds turn out for BioDefense Lab hearing
> *
> by Justin Rice
>
> Three descendants of the late author and environmentalist Edward Abbey 
> stood outside Faneuil Hall Thursday evening wearing stickers that read 
> "NO BIO TERROR LAB in BOSTON" and holding signs that read "Chernobyl, 
> Bhopal, Boston."
>
> Known as the "Thoreau of the American West," Abbey's works include The 
> Monkey Wrench Gang, a novel that's been cited as inspiration by 
> radical environmental groups. Though not nearly as extreme as their 
> famous relative, the Abbey's from Revere were attending a public 
> hearing held by the National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) in order to 
> express their opposition to the construction of the BioSafety Level 4 
> Lab (BioLab). The hearing was held to give the public an opportunity 
> to comment on an Aug. 23 report from N.I.H. 
> <_http://tinyurl.com/365p4j_>  finding that the BioLab posed no risks 
> to the South End neighborhood in which it's being built. The 200-plus 
> page report, "Supplementary Risk Assessments And Site Suitability 
> Analysis for the National Emerging Disease Laboratory Boston 
> University Medical Center," 
> <_http://www.nems.nih.gov/aspects/nat_resources/programs/NEPA/I.%20Executive%20Summary.pdf_> 
> concluded that of three sites considered for the BioLab (Tyngsborough, 
> Peterborough and the South End), the Boston site was the safest: 
> "[U]nder realistic conditions, infectious diseases would not occur in 
> the communities as a result of an accident" in the BioLab.
>
> "We're a couple times removed [from Abbey]," Lou Abbey said, standing 
> next to his wife, Christine, and daughter, Hannah. "Ed would be right 
> out here with a sign telling people 'You better defend yourself 
> against your own government.'
>
> "We're concerned our government would put this in a community of 
> 100,000 people, most of whom don't have the capacity to move if they 
> wanted to. Many people say, 'If you don't like it move.' Well most of 
> the people can't afford to move. That's the thing I think is the worst 
> injustice -- hopefully a few people here will say 'No.'"
>
> The Abbey's were among hundreds of BioLab protesters at the meeting 
> who are unconvinced by the report's findings that the BioLab does not 
> present a threat to the neighborhood's safety. In fact, Dr. Deborah 
> Wilson, the N.I.H. Director of Occupational Safety and Health, was 
> nearly shouted down when presenting findings that the lab would not 
> have been safer if it was built in a less congested area.
>
> Known as the Bio-Terror Lab to opponents and Bio-Safety Lab to its 
> proponents, the Albany Street facility will allow scientists to study 
> some of the deadliest infectious agents in the world as early as next 
> year.
>
> Wilson said the BioLab will give scientists the capacity to better 
> track infectious diseases. "This model would tell us when an infection 
> would occur, where it would occur, who would be affected and what the 
> outcome would be," Wilson said, before being interrupted by someone 
> asking her if she lives in Boston.
>
> "Get to the point," someone else shouted as Wilson tried to explain 
> how researchers simulated an outbreak that might occur during the 
> daytime, nighttime and hours spent outside work and home.
>
> "When do we get to talk? That's what we came for," another person 
> shouted to the delight of the entire hall, prompting applause from the 
> crowed that stopped Wilson in her tracks.
>
> "Ladies and gentleman I'd be glad to present the data," Wilson said 
> sharply, but calmly. She continued, enduring one more interruption 
> before speeding through the remainder of her PowerPoint presentation. 
> "Thank you all for your attention."
>
> With that, the comment period began and the public rushed to line up 
> at the microphone. Speakers were each given three minutes to ask a 
> question or state a point (a large digital clock that could be seen by 
> everyone in the hall tracked the time), but an N.I.H. official 
> frequently had to ask speakers to wrap up.
>
> State Rep. Gloria Fox (D-Roxbury), who has been a vocal opponent of 
> the BioLab disputed the N.I.H. report's findings. "We challenge any 
> report by government or any institution that says a Level-4 BioLab 
> sitting in the heart of the city is a good thing. This is not only 
> going to affect Roxbury and the South End, it's going to affect all of 
> the city of Boston. We should all be afraid, be afraid, very afraid," 
> she said.
>
> Glen Berkowitz, who chairs the Community Liaison Committee established 
> by the Boston University Medical Center (B.U.M.C.), said he doesn't 
> oppose the plan, even though he lives 1400 feet from the construction 
> site.
>
> "Many of those opposed to the BioLab make it very difficult for those 
> of us who either support or feel neutral to focus on objective facts 
> rather than scare tactics and fear mongering," he said. "As the 
> moderator of the C.L.C.'s Educational Forums, I can assure the 
> sincere, and substantive dialogue between BioLab officials and those 
> opponents. I invite all of those in attendance tonight to join us on 
> October 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Cathedral High School's new gymnasium on 
> Washington Street in the South End."
>
> Berkowitz's criticisms of the BioLab opponents were met with some 
> grumbling, but when he referenced Nelson Mandela when inviting BioLab 
> opponents to engage in a more substantive dialogue with B.U.M.C. 
> officials, angry noise from the crowd made it difficult to hear the 
> rest of his comments.  
>
> "I came across a poster put up by some of the opponents encouraging 
> turnout here tonight," he said. "That poster depicted a person wearing 
> an Orwellian gas mask. Personally, I don't think such speculative 
> scare tactics are what our community needs. And I don't think our 
> community needs to hear more about unfounded conspiracy theories 
> stemming back to the infamous tularemia incident of three years ago. 
> What we need to do collectively is get our facts straight.
>
> "Nelson Mandela once said: 'If you want to make peace with your enemy, 
> you have to work with your enemy.' I invite opponents here tonight to 
> do just that, and join us at the next BioLab Educational Forum to take 
> place 11 days from now."
>
> David Mundel, a South End resident and critic of the BioLab, described 
> the Aug. 24 report as "inadequate and negligent." He said that the 
> report contains no assessment of which event is most likely to result 
> in a "worst case risk" and added that the summary of the recent report 
> notes that "the design and operations of the BSL-4 laboratory result 
> in a negligible risk of an infectious agent (being released) into the 
> surrounding community." Mundel quoted the BioLab's newly appointed 
> director, Dr. Thomas Geisbert, who last week told South End News, 
> "there's never zero risk."
>
> "For the N.I.H. to report that there is no risk is simply negligent," 
> Mundel said.
>
> But not every community member who spoke was opposed to the lab. "I'd 
> like to think that what is done in the BioLab is for the good of 
> mankind," Bruce Bickerstaff of Roxbury said. "I'd rather be able to 
> say, 'We have it' and not be able to say, 'We need it.'"
>
> After his public comments, Bickerstaff chided some of the lab's 
> opponents. "The point is we're here to come to some kind of 
> understanding," he said outside Faneuil Hall. "Why would you disallow 
> someone to present information? You should allow yourself to absorb 
> the information and than each one of us can make an assessment after 
> the fact. Not one of those persons would've liked to be shouted down 
> if they got up there."
>
> Michael Cohen, a B.U. mathematics professor, wondered why the lab 
> couldn't be built on an island in Boston Harbor in on Plum Island.
>
> "The fact that that is not being done and people don't to do that 
> proves it's not about safety at all," he said. "It's about politics 
> and money."
>
> Another B.U. professor, H. Patricia Hynes, who directs the School of 
> Public Health's Urban Environmental Health Initiative, noted that the 
> N.I.H. report doesn't account for an outside attack on the BioLab, 
> such as a truck bomb similar to the one that blew up the Oklahoma City 
> Federal Building 15 years ago.
>
> "This is not science fiction," said Hynes, who works at 715 Albany St. 
> near the site of the BioLab. "Any risk assessment has to consider 
> threats coming from the outside in."
>
> The line to speak still stretched down the aisle at 9 p.m., the cutoff 
> point to enter the line. Those already in line, however, were 
> permitted, for nearly another hour, to make their remarks. Written 
> comments may also be submitted until Nov. 12. Still, as unruly as the 
> community meeting process might get before the end of the comment 
> period, BioLab opponents have yet to resort to Edward Abby-style 
> sabotage -- throwing a monkey wrench into the 70-percent completed 
> construction site on Albany Street.
>
> "Violence is not the answer," Hannah Abbey said before heading into 
> Thursday night's meeting.
>
> The next Community Liaison Committee-sponsored BioLab forum will be 
> held Mon., Oct. 1, in the Cathedral High School gym, and will discuss 
> "What are the Ins and Outs of Transportation?" It will begin at 6:30 
> p.m., rather than the regular time of 7 p.m. to allow additional time 
> for questions.
>
>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> *From: *Francis Sandy Eaton <sandyern at comcast.net>
> *Date: *Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:38:43 -0400
> *To: *Boston Globe <letter at globe.com>
> *Cc: *Stephen Smith <stsmith at globe.com>
>
> *Subject: To* *Editor, Boston Globe : NIH at Faneuil Hall: Failure to 
> Cover
> *
> September 22, 2007
>
> Editor, Boston Globe
>
> What a pity that the regional "newspaper of record," The Boston Globe, 
> chose not to cover Thursday evening's NIH hearing in Faneuil Hall. Did 
> the editors assume that there was no real news to be found there, that 
> the debate over the Bush Administration's siting of a BLS-4 lab in 
> such an urban setting was finished? Could you not find the right hook 
> to describe the presence of hundreds of residents and academics who 
> are not convinced by the recent shoddy and self-serving NIH 
> environmental report? Here are a few suggestions on aspects demanding 
> your attention:
>
> The federal elected officials representing Long Island are on record 
> as opposing the upgrade of the Level 3 biolab on Plum Island to a 
> Level 4, stating that it would be too dangerous - whether to New York 
> City or to the Hamptons isn't clear. ("Homeland Security seeks input 
> on Plum Island disease lab," Bill Bleyer, Newsday, August 21, 2007) 
> Why do federal elected officials representing the South End feel this 
> lab is safe?
>
> University officials and researchers at many sites have been 
> compromising security, failing to report mishaps and breaches, and 
> failing to maintain proper records, as required by federal 
> regulations. Texas A&M is perhaps the most glaring single example in 
> recent weeks. ("CDC reprimands Texas A&M over lab safety," Emily 
> Ramshaw, Dallas Morning News, September 4, 2007) Why should we trust 
> the arrogant BU officials, the very ones who blew off the Boston City 
> Council on July 30th when specifically asked to testify on pathogen 
> transportation plans by Councilor Stephen Murphy, chair of the Public 
> Safety Committee?
>
> There has been such an escalating plethora of safety breaches 
> nationally and globally in BSL-3 and BSL-4 facilities that a 
> Congressional committee will begin hearings next month to assess this 
> situation. ("House panel asked to look at biowar labs," United Press 
> International, July 31, 2007) Why shouldn't BU's record of accidents, 
> failure to report same, and offhanded way of treating the community be 
> heading that committee's agenda?
>
> Here are URLs to the cited articles:
>
> <http://seachange.wbumpus.com/node/12164>
> <http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/090507dntexcdc.9f66c8cc.html> 
>
> <http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Briefing/2007/07/31/house_panel_asked_to_look_at_biowar_labs/6254> 
>
>
> /Sandy Eaton, RN/*
> *
> Sandy Eaton, RN
> 53 Quarry Street
> Quincy, Massachusetts
> 617-472-4935
>
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