STOP THE BU BIOTERRORISM LAB

Who else opposes the lab?

Organizations

• AFSCME local 1489 (Boston Medical Center Employees)

• Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE)

• A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism)

• Boston Animal Defense League

• Boston Mobilization

• Boston NAACP

• BUGBLOC (BU Germ-Bioterror Lab Opposition Coalition)

• Chinese Progressive Association

• Council for Responsible Genetics

• Dorchester People for Peace

• The Foundation

• Grassroots Actions for Peace

• Labor for Justice with Peace

• League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Massachusetts

• Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition

• Massachusetts Nurses Association (position statement at www.massnurses.org/pubs/positions/BUlab.htm)

• Neighborhood of Affordable Housing

• Roxbury Neighborhood Council

• Safety Net

• SEIU Local 2020 (Boston Medical Center Employees)

• United for Justice with Peace Coalition

• Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety

• Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Elected Officials

• Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo
• State Representative Gloria Fox
• Boston City Councilor Maura Hennigan
• Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner
• Boston City Councilor Charles Yancey

Scientists, Doctors, Academics

• In April 2004, 165 scientists, physicians, public health specialists, and academics, including Nobel prize winners, signed a letter to the Mayor of Boston, Boston City Council, and BU opposing locating the bioterrorism laboratory in the South End/Roxbury area of Boston. Download the letter, No Place to Hide, to read their letter and see who has signed on so far.

Individuals

• More than four thousand individuals have signed petitions and endorsements opposing the bioterrorism laboratory.

Statements from Academic Experts

• Download and read the 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 lab.

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

• Download and read the Memo from Sheldon Krimsky, Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Tufts University, to the Boston City Council about why he opposes the bioterrorism lab. More about Professor Krimsky: http://www.tufts.edu/~skrimsky/bio.htm

• Download and read the 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.
  
  On September 23, Boston University held a campus forum about the bioterrorism lab. The two speakers on the panel were Dr. Mark Klempner, who is BU's "principal investigator" for the laboratory (that means that he is in charge of making the laboratory happen), and Dr. David Ozonoff, who is on the faculty of the BU School of Public Health and for many years was Chairman of the Department of Environmental Health at the BU School of Public Health. Each speaker was allowed a 10-minute opening presentation and then answered questions. Dr. Ozonoff was kind enough to send us his ten-minute presentation, which you can download here: "The Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Biolab."

• Download a powerpoint presentation, Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) Expansion, by Richard H. Ebright, Department of Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Waksman Institute, Rutgers University.  A large increase in BSL4 lab space is very unlikely to have a positive impact on fundamental knowledge, US public health, or US biodefense preparedness.  The labs increase the risk of an accidental and deliberate release and might become the source of bioweapons for our enemies.  “The simplest, most likely, path for a sub-state adversary, such as Al Qaeda, to acquire bioweapons capability is to obtain bioweapons agents and training by penetration of a biodefense research project in a US laboratory.”  In “researching next-generation agents, we will be engaging in an arms race with ourselves…. Even worse, in research on next-generation agents, we potentially will be arming our adversaries.”  More about Professor Ebright: http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/ebright_bio.html. 

State legislators who support a regulatory program for BSL4 laboratories

• Representative Gloria Fox introduced legislation in 2005, House Bill # 1397, An Act to Protect the Public Health and Environment from Toxic Biological Agents, that would create a state regulatory program for BSL4 laboratories because there is no effective federal or state program to help ensure that such labs are safe.  Download the legislation.  Down a fact sheet about the legislation. (Note that HB # 1397 is an older version of the bill.  Rep. Fox will substitute the revised version for the older version during the legislative process.)

• Go to our state legislation page for more information about the legislation, including the list of state senators and representatives who co-sponsored the legislation.

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