May 11, 2007
Lab’s safety rests on too many unknowns
by KEN MIDKIFF 

Rather than repeat the rather sordid past of the Plum Island Bio-Safety Lab, let’s examine it and see what the flaws were so that the mistakes aren’t duplicated here. This is no mere exercise in history or biology but a very real examination of what can occur when the most deadly organisms in existence are proposed to be housed in our midst.

The biggest mistake was locating the lab near to major urban areas. There are several million people living within 100 miles of Plum Island and many thousands living within two miles. In some ways, however, Plum Island was an ideal location. Just off the eastern tip of Long Island, the prevailing winds would carry any accidental releases out to sea, rather than to Manhattan.

But what was not factored in was the presence of gulls, geese, various waterfowl - Plum Island is situated in the path of a major migratory flyway - and pelicans. These birds, not restricted by bodies of water, acted as "vectors" - disease transporters - and presumably carried some of the disease organisms to nearby towns, such as Old Lyme, Conn.

The second problem at Plum Island was its location in the typical path of Atlantic hurricanes. As has been exemplified by the recent havoc in New Orleans, hurricanes have a way of reducing the work of humans to rubble. Such was the case at Plum Island. A major hurricane destroyed the power lines that kept the facility functioning, the backup - redundant - supply did not come on line and the facility was reduced to a primitive state. We’re not likely to experience any hurricanes here, but Columbia is on the fringes of the New Madrid earthquake zone. While the likelihood of an earthquake occurring is minimal, such a scenario must be considered. We are also located in "Tornado Alley," and the likelihood of a devastating tornado occurring is quite high. The recent experience in Greensburg, Kan., demonstrated the rather awesome power contained in a thunderstorm.

The third problem is secrecy. While the top leadership of the University of Missouri touts the advantages of having a lab in this area that would help identify and find solutions for deadly zoonotic diseases - ones that "jump" from animals to humans - because of security, it is unlikely that help would be forthcoming from this lab. The history of Plum Island is to deny that accidental releases occurred and to deny the presence of any organisms that would cause harm or death. Rather than being helpful with epidemics such as Lyme disease, the Level 3 lab on Plum Island has been cloaked in secrecy. Because of the high level of security surrounding this proposed Department of Homeland Security facility, no one unassociated with the facility would have any knowledge of what is there. The Level 4 lab would be of absolutely no help - and might even become an obstacle - in combating zoonotic diseases.

The fourth problem is the most difficult one to solve. Humans get bored of following elaborate procedures designed to protect the public from the release of deadly viruses and bacteria. Any infections from these viruses and bacteria are incurable. No doubt, rigid precautions will be strictly adhered to initially, but after two, three or four years of showering-in, showering-out, donning space suits, removing jewelry and other auxiliary apparel, replacing Band-Aids, going through all the steps to keep bacteria and viruses isolated, and feeding and caring for large infected animals, such as cows, horses, sheep and hogs, such will be viewed as tedious.

And therein lies the rub: Humans are fallible. To date, there is no such thing as a "fail-safe" system. Even when NASA or the U.S. military undertakes a mission, there’s always an unknown factor. That factor is human involvement. Most of the time, our ability to think through problems is a positive one. But we cannot think through all the problems. As Donald Rumsfield put it so aptly, "We go to war with the Army we have, not the one we’d like to have." There are always unknowns and even knowns that we don’t know how to deal with.

The entire system is dependent upon all humans involved making redundant, and boring, checks. Are the ventilation systems working? Are there any air leakages? Is perimeter security sufficient to ward off terrorist attacks? Do all personnel have appropriate security clearances? Does the safety manual cover all possibilities?

While no doubt the homeland security department has the best of intentions and any facility constructed will be built to rigid specifications, there will always be unknowns, and the biggest unknowns are humans: scientists, maintenance workers, electricians, security personnel and all the other folks who will work at the facility.

We go back to where we started. The Level 4 lab will house the deadliest orgasms in existence. There is no known cure for many of them. For the most part, these will be introduced into this country - Ebola, for example, is from Africa.

All it would take is one little mistake.

This column first appeared May 11, 2007 in the Columbia Daily Tribune.