[Boston-editorial] new feature: Mass. Joint Committee Hears Testimony RE: Bioterror Lab, Many Hopeful Sanity Will Prevail

[Matthew Williams]

Mass. Joint Committee Hears Testimony RE: Bioterror Lab, Many Hopeful 
Sanity Will Prevail
by david taber, davewreckoning (nospam) hotmail.com

State Representative Frank Smitzik was forced to make liberal use of 
his gavel chairing the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural 
Resources, and Agriculture public hearing on HR 1397 -An Act to Protect 
Public Health and the Environment from Toxic Biological Agents- earlier 
this month as an enthusiastic crowd of over 300 fans of the resolution 
repeatedly burst into applause when they felt their side had scored a 
good point.

Representative Gloria Fox, whose 7th Suffolk district includes the 
proposed site of labratory, is sponsoring the bill. In her opening 
comments describing HR 1397, which would provide comprehensive state 
regulation for BSL4 labs in Massachusetts, Fox acknowledged the large 
diverse crowd that had come out to show their support, “We have 
students, scientists, public health experts, and community activists as 
well as politicians here today,” Fox said.

BUMC has been working to open its laboratory in the South End of 
Boston, on the border of Roxbury for over two years. The NIAID grant 
funded project would be only the fifth level 4 laboratory operating in 
the United States.

According to a press release from Fox’s office, “presently there are no 
federal or state laws that regulate high security laboratories.”

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21 Jun 2005 | Filed under: News / Social Welfare : Technology