Nearly 150 scientists and scholars, including 12 Boston University professors and two Nobel laureates, sent a letter Tuesday calling on the Boston City Council, Mayor Thomas Menino and BU’s Board of Trustees to halt plans for a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory on the BU Medical Campus in the city’s South End.
Several of the scientists accused BUMC officials of being “irresponsible” and “misleading” in their quest for approval to build the lab, a charge a BUMC spokeswoman Ellen Berlin denied Tuesday.
The letter said the threat of accidents, acts of terrorism or security breaches, lack of public oversight and the potential negative impact on area quality of life make the urban location an unsuitable place for the high-security lab.
“There are real and potentially catastrophic risks to the health and safety of people in the local and surrounding communities,” the letter read. “We, therefore, request that Boston University withdraw its plans to build this laboratory and that the mayor and councilors of the City of Boston take steps to ensure that such high-risk facilities not be constructed in Boston.”
Councilors met with project opponents following a press conference about the letter, just a week after meeting with BUMC officials who touted the facility’s potential benefits. Both sides will have a chance to testify in a formal hearing April 20, when the city council is expected to make a final decision on the project’s future.
City Councilor Charles Yancey (Mattapan, Dorchester) said BUMC officials were enthusiastic about the facility during last week’s meeting but left some questions unanswered.
“They felt that it was going to be a great economic benefit for the region in terms of developing a biotech center in the city,” Yancey said. “But they were very weak in terms of responding to safety and security [concerns].”
School of Public Health professor David Ozonoff, a former supporter of the laboratory, told councilors that some BU officials have a “misshapen and distorted set of priorities.” He said administrators overseeing the project “don’t want to rock the boat” and are trying to finalize plans “as easily and quickly as possible without anyone knowing.”
Ozonoff said SPH and BUMC faculty members held a forum and were approached by several BU professors who said they had heard very little information about the facility the university proposes to build.
“Proponents have gone around and spoken but they don’t tell you anything,” Ozonoff said during an interview following the meeting. “They also provide very misleading presentations.”
But BUMC spokeswoman Ellen Berlin said the school has held more than 60 community meetings to discuss the facility and all information presented was accurate.
“I stand by every statement that we have made throughout this process because they are based in fact,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Despite the strong showing of opposition presented in Tuesday’s letter to the council, Berlin said the project has still received a large amount of support.
“There are many prominent scientists throughout the region who understand the importance of this laboratory and the work that will go on in it and strongly support these efforts,” she said.
Dolly Battle, chairwoman of Roxbury resident action group Safety Net, said the organization recognizes the benefits of the laboratory’s research, but the public health risks are too great to construct the lab in the South End.
“I’m not against the lab – I’m against the location it’s being built at,” Battle said. “I don’t like the idea of it being built right up in the neighborhood. I think BU should give us that respect and find another location for the lab.”
According to U.S. Census Bureau research presented by Alternatives for Community and Environment, another neighborhood action group, the population surrounding the lab’s proposed location is nearly five times as dense as the area surrounding the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta – currently the most densely populated location of the three existing Level 4 labs. There are nearly 3,500 people per square mile living around the CDC, compared to 17,000 people per square mile in Roxbury.
Ozonoff, Safety Net and ACE also were joined by Jonathan King, director of the Biomedical Electron Microscopy Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Sujatha Byravan, executive director of the Council for Responsible Genetics.
A major problem with the facility, according to King, is the potential for classified government research, allowed by the Homeland Security Act, to introduce unfamiliar, novel pathogens into the community. Even the city’s best doctors may not recognize symptoms if an outbreak unknowingly occurs, he said.
King also pointed out that many residents within a mile of the Roxbury facility do not have health insurance, increasing the risk of disease transmission. Insurance and compensation plans for area residents who might be exposed to pathogens are essential, he added.
Ozonoff said officials must establish an independent community oversight committee and an independent scientific review board to set a public health agenda, and they must allow responsible authorities full access to the facility’s operations.
“I wish very much that I could be here before you in support of this facility,” Ozonoff said. “But regretfully, I cannot.”
Officials from the mayor’s office did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday. In the past, Menino has indicated his support for the facility.
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