STOP THE BU BIOTERRORISM LAB

 

Documents

 

This page is a compilation of the downloadable documents about the bioterrorism lab found on the website.  (That means that you can find these documents on other pages of the website, but we also have placed them all here for convenience.)

 

Please note that our media releases are not on this page.  For them, go to
 http://www.ace-ej.org/BiolabWeb/media.html.

 

The documents are all in PDF.  To open the documents, you need a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat reader, which you can download for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

 

Overhead views of the lab location

•  Overhead view. An overhead photo that shows where the lab will be located.

•  Which One Does Not Belong? An overhead view that compares the location of the BU bioterrorism lab to the location of the other three operating BSL4 labs.  ¿Cual de estos no corresponde?

Why the lab does not belong in the South End/Roxbury: our position statement

• What’s Wrong With a BSL4 Bioterrorism Laboratory at Boston Medical Center? A one page explanation why so many oppose the lab.

•  Position Statement, "Why We Oppose Boston University's Bio-Terror Lab" that individuals and organizations can endorse. También puede bajar e imprimir la Declaración de Oposición  en español.

Proposed ordinance to ban the lab in Boston

•  proposed ordinance that would ban research in BSL4 laboratories in Boston

Regulatory materials and environmental reviews

•  ACE/Safety Net written comments to NIH.  Our comments under the National Environmental Policy Act on the NEPA scoping.

• Intent to sue letter.  Our claim that the process of siting the lab violates the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).

• ACE/Safety Net comments on BU’s DEIR. The MEPA comments we submitted on BU’s Draft Environmental Impact Report.

• The Secretary of EOEA’s certificate on the DEIR.  The Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs review of BU’s DEIR.

• ACE/Safety Net comments on the Final Environmental Impact Report.

• ACE/Safety Net comments on the DPIR.  Our comments to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) on BU’s Draft Project Impact Report.

• ACE/Safety Net comments on the Planned Development Area Review.  Our comments to the BRA on this review.

• ACE/Safety Net comments on the Final Project Impact Report and PDA.

• Regulatory and Public Processes for the bioterrorism laboratory.  A review of the regulatory and permit needs of the lab.

• Draft Phase 2 Report for the hazardous waste clean-up of the lab site.

Bioterrorism labs information

• What the BSL numbers mean.  Brief descriptions of each of the biosafety levels.

• Fact Report about the laboratory prepared by ACE and Safety Net. Learn what BUMC has failed to tell about the laboratory.

• Download Frequently Asked Questions: Biodefense Research, written by the Council for Responsible Genetics, and learn more about BSL4 labs and why they are controversial.

• Mistakes Happen: Accidents and Security Breaches at Biocontainment Laboratories. A compilation of known releases, staff infections, and security breaches at high-security biocontainment labs is found in the Council for Responsible Genetics document,

• NIAID memo that says that a reason to build a BS4 lab in rural Montana, "well removed from major population centers" is that "the location of the laboratory reduces the possibility that an accidental release of a biosafety level-4 organism would lead to a major public health disaster."

• Excerpts from the Federal Request for Proposals and Applications.  Portions of the document under which BU applied for federal funding to construct the lab, showing some of the basic for the lab.  It also contains links to the entire RFPA and amendment to the RFPA.

• Biodefense Crossing the Line, a short memorandum in which arms control, national security, and biodefense research experts say that the “rapidity of elaboration of American biodefense programs, their ambition and administrative aggressiveness, and the degree to which they push against the prohibitions of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) are startling.” 

Statements by others who oppose the lab.

• No Place to Hide.  An April 2004 letter signed by 165 scientists, physicians, public health specialists, and academics, including Nobel prize winners, to the Mayor of Boston, Boston City Council, and BU opposing locating the bioterrorism laboratory in the South End/Roxbury area of Boston.

• Testimony of H. Patricia Hynes, Professor of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, to the Boston City Council, about why she opposes the bioterrorism la

•  Testimony of Jonathan King, Professor of Molecular Biology, MIT, to the Boson City Council about why a bioterrorism lab does not belong in Boston.

• Memo from Sheldon Krimsky, Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Tufts University, to the Boston City Council about why he opposes the bioterrorism lab.

• Testimony of David Ozonoff, Professor of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, to the Boston City Council about why he opposes the bioterrorism lab.

• "Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Biolab," Presentation by Dr. David Ozonoff, Professor of Environmental Health, BU School of Public Health, at  a September 23, 2004 forum sponsored by BU for BU students, faculty, and staff only.

Flyers, petitions, and postcards

• Two postcards: 1) a Post Card to the Mayor and 2) A Post Card to the City Council, in opposition to the lab.

•  Flyer about the laboratory.  También puede bajar e imprimir este volante en español.

•  Petition to Stop the BU Bioterrorism Lab.  Petition ready for signatures.

Are BU’s Claims True?

• http://www.ace-ej.org/BiolabWeb/Biolabdocs/Truth&BUliesMay2004.pdf Are BU’s Claims about the lab true?  Our factual analysis.

Letters

• Read our letter. May 4, 2004, letter to the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, asking them to withdraw their selection of BU as recipient of funds to build the bioterrorism lab.

• Read our letter.  May 14, 2004, letter to the Boston City Councilors, to follow up the April 20, 2004, City Council hearing about the health and safety threats posed by BU’s proposed bioterrorism lab.

•  Read our information demands.  What does BU have to hide?

 

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