Hennigan blasts biolab

The Boston University Level 4 Biolab, which is scheduled for construction in the South End, would threaten the safety of thousands of area residents, mayoral candidate and City Councilor-At-Large Maura Hennigan said Tuesday at the BU Medical Campus, adjacent to the lab’s proposed construction site.

Joined by Councilor Charles Yancey (Dorchester, Mattapan), Hennigan declared to a sparse gathering that the proposed biolab was one of the most dangerous facilities in America and vowed to halt its construction.

“Shame on [Mayor Thomas] Menino for bringing to this city what does not belong in any city,” Hennigan said at the biolab construction site. “It is unacceptable to have a Level 4 biolab in the South End where hundreds of thousands of people could be infected by anthrax, Ebola or smallpox if the slightest error were to occur.”

Hennigan pledged to pass legislation that would ban construction of the biolab in Boston if she were elected mayor Nov. 8.

Yancey, who announced his public support for Hennigan’s mayoral bid at the press conference, said he would support any legislation Hennigan proposes against the biolab. He also questioned Boston’s readiness in the event of an airborne biological catastrophe.

“In the event of a disaster concerning the biolab, there is no contingency plan by the city except to quarantine the residents,” Yancey said. “But what then happens to the thousands of residents who are sick? How do they get help? It just doesn’t make sense to place a ticking time bomb in the middle of a highly populated, urban area.”

Both Hennigan and Yancey said they supported biotechnology and the construction of research facilities that create jobs and boost the city’s economy, but believed that a facility like the proposed biolab should be constructed in a less populated area outside of Boston.

Yancey also pointed to what he believes is a contradiction in Menino’s public safety policy, citing the mayor’s opposition to liquefied natural gas tankers entering Boston as inconsistent with his support of the biolab.

“Why would the mayor allow this biolab to be built when it poses an even greater risk than the LNG tankers?” Yancey said. “The mayor’s afraid that terrorists could target the natural gas tankers and use them as a moving bomb, and yet he’s willing to invite biological threats that could kill hundreds of thousands right into the heart of our city.”

Residents and city officials have been debating the potential benefits and risks of constructing the facility since BU won a $120 million grant to fund it in October 2003.

According to BU and city officials, the laboratory would be used to research dangerous infectious diseases and would specialize in rapidly translating research data into information that could be used to create vaccines or treatments.

Specifically, the lab would focus on infectious diseases that could be used as biological weapons in a terrorist attack.

Menino and Gov. Mitt Romney support the bio-containment lab because they believe it will ensure Boston’s preeminence as a biomedical research hub and attract more world-renowned scientists to the city.

According to Menino, the lab will create approximately 1,300 construction jobs and 600 staff positions at the facility.

While Romney and Menino have deemed the biolab safe to the surrounding community, many city councilors and residents believe it will be a major risk to residents.

“It doesn’t matter what safety precautions they have taken, because a facility like this could never be completely safe,” said Mary Dussourd, a resident of the South End and a member of Safety Net, a Roxbury group that opposes the biolab.

“People make mistakes, and that is who will be running this lab — people — and all it takes is one mistake, and then thousands could be dead,” she said. “Why would the city ever risk our lives that way?”