The highly controversial Biosafety Level 4 laboratory’s planned construction in Boston’s South End is facing heavy fire from a number of reputable critics. Almost 150 scientists and scholars, including two Nobel laureates and 12 Boston University professors, have asked that the university cease planning on the facility because of safety concerns.
On Sept. 30, BU received a $120 million grant to build the laboratory and officials have said it could bring in as much as $1.7 billion in construction and research grants.
While the presence of such high-profile scientists and scholars demonstrates the need for BU to seriously consider each concern, BU’s involvement with the biolab will do wonders for the university’s reputation and help find cures to some of the worst diseases possible. The facility is planned for Roxbury – the densely populated area of Boston surrounded the Boston University Medical Center – which some would consider ideal for BU but extremely dangerous to Roxbury residents.
Roxbury will be the most densely populated location for any Level 4 laboratory in the country, with a population of 17,000 people per square mile. That is a gigantic leap in size from the 3,500 people per square mile that live around the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta – the most dense area with a Level 4 lab currently. In an ideal world, the location of such a dangerous laboratory would be in the middle of nowhere. But part of the reasoning behind Boston’s selection was because the city is a high-risk area for terrorism that already has the largest concentration of biotechnology companies in the nation.
Still, while BUMC is located in Roxbury and the majority of people working at the new laboratory would be from BU, concerns about the laboratory’s location should be seriously considered.
Because of socioeconomic conditions, Roxbury is populated by a significant number of people who do not have health insurance, a fact that could lead to disaster if an accident happens. And because part of the laboratory’s purpose would be to create new diseases in an effort to prevent them, treating possible diseases and recognizing their symptoms would be extremely difficult, critics contend. Such problems could increase the chances of a disease spreading rapidly.
But while Roxbury’s high population density does present unique problems, accidents at Level 4 laboratories in any area would be disastrous and outcry would be equally serious. It would be ideal for BU to search for a location on Boston’s outskirts for the facility, but there is no way to eliminate danger entirely. And though some have accused the National Institutes of Health and BU of racism for putting the facility in the middle of an area with a large number of minorities, it is clear that the two do not have ill intent.
The facility is important for everyone, as terrorism has steadily become more and more complex and deadly.
BU is taking on a huge liability in both building and running the laboratory, but bringing such a high-profile and important research center to the university will bring with it tremendous prestige and benefit the entire nation.
Scientists in the facility will specifically research a number of infectious diseases that could be used for bioterrorism, including anthrax, and work to develop vaccines and treatments for such bioweapons. It’s important research, and the BU community should be honored that the school was selected.
BU must keep safety as its number one priority and remain honest with the community if problems do arise. But the school should also take appropriate measures to make members of the Roxbury community feel safe by seriously considering critics’ complaints.
One professor Tuesday suggested implementing a plan to compensate Roxbury residents for insurance that would cover possible accidents. BU should seriously consider that suggestion and others, as an increased sense of security would quiet a number of residents’ qualms with the laboratory.
If BU does calm area residents and get the facility going, the laboratory will eventually be positive for BU, Roxbury residents and the entire country.
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