Grafton, Mass. officials are concerned that the School of Veterinary Medicine's plans to build a bioresearch laboratory will pose a risk to the surrounding community.
The Vet School submitted a request for $15,800,000 to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in December and notified Grafton's board of selectmen at a meeting soon afterward.
The proposal for the laboratory alarmed both Grafton city officials and residents.
Town Administrator Roger Hammond said the school's plans "come out of the blue."
Hammond also said that, at the time of the meeting, "there wasn't a lot of upfront information" and that "no one wanted to sign anything because we didn't know what we were dealing with."
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) assigned the proposed laboratory a biosafety level of three (BSL-3). This means that scientists working in a BSL-3 lab may handle agents that can "cause diseases that may have serious or lethal consequences," according to the NIAID Web site. The NIAID assigns all bioresearch facilities a safety rating from BSL-1 to BSL-4. In BSL-4 labs, scientists study pathogens that pose a high risk of life-threatening disease for which no vaccine is available.
According to Associate Dean for Administration and Finance at the Vet School Joe McManus, the Vet School's lab will be safer than most because of its location.
"Most BSL-3 labs in hospitals, universities and life science companies around the country are in multi-use buildings, often in urban environments with public access to the building," McManus said. "By contrast, Tufts' proposed regional biocontainment lab will be a standalone building designed specifically for
worker and community safety."
Hammond said the Vet School's plans were given to the town's own local emergency planning commission which subsequently formulated a list of approximately 48 questions regarding safety precautions at the facility. The questions sent to the Vet School have yet to be answered, Hammond said.
Nevertheless, officials at the Vet School have taken their own steps in order to bridge the gap between the research institute and residents of Grafton.
McManus acknowledged the town's apprehension for the facility. "It makes sense for Grafton town officials to ask for information about the proposed regional biocontainment facility," he said.
According to McManus, the Vet School has officiated events in the past in order to inform faculty members, students, and residents of the plans for the new facilities and will continue to do so in the future.
During a second meeting held last month, Grafton selectmen were invited to tour the Vet School's two existing bioresearch labs, one of which has also been given a BSL-3 rating.
McManus said he hopes that the community's confidence in Vet School faculty will also help allay their fears. "Tufts veterinarians and research faculty have some of the country's best expertise in food and waterborne diseases," he said.
Despite the hesitation of the Grafton community, officials at the Vet School will continue to plan for the lab. While it may be several months before the NIH request is approved, McManus said he hopes the lab will be complete by Fall 2007.
The Vet School received a $25 million grant from the NIH for research in 2003.
The Vet School's attempts to build the new lab coincide with that of Boston University (BU), which is in the planning process of constructing a bioterrorism lab in Roxbury, Mass.
BU's planned facility has also caught opposition from local residents. It will be designated a BSL-4 laboratory, however, a type which deals with agents that can "cause diseases that are usually life-threatening" such as Ebola or anthrax.
