Keep Plum Island research going
The research laboratory on Plum Island, not far from Long Island's Orient Point Credit: AP/Department of Agriculture
Studying nasty animal pathogens in the middle of cattle country never seemed like a smart idea. Studying germs that could be deadly for humans, in a suburban region full of them, is another dubious notion. Now, there is a good chance that we can avoid both.
President Barack Obama's proposed 2013 budget backs away from a Department of Homeland Security plan to build a National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas. Some in Kansas call it a jobs-creator. Opponents say it's a potential cattle-destroyer.
It would also be a job-killer for our Plum Island Animal Disease Center. The Kansas facility would take over the biosafety level 3 research now done at the lab off Orient Point, plus biosafety level 4 work. That involves dangerous pathogens that can hop from animals to homo sapiens.
If the Kansas facility is built, Plum Island would no longer be needed, and its 200 jobs, half of them held by Long Islanders, would disappear. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) has been fighting to defund the Kansas facility and keep Plum Island going -- for level 3, but not for level 4, which belongs in a safe spot. He cautions that this budget is not the last word.
For now, the news is good for two islands: Plum and Long. As the budget process goes on, our congressional delegation must stay vigilant, to make sure the Kansas plan stays dead.
