Update NBAF: DHS Picks Construction Manager, Biodefense Lab, Manhattan, KS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pursuant to a solicitation issued in January 2009 has picked two companies to serve jointly as construction manager for the $523 million National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) proposed for rural Manhattan, Kansas. (1-2)

The two companies are Mortenson Construction (Minneapolis based) and McCarthy Holdings, Inc. (St. Louis based) (3-4). The two companies won a $3.2 million award from the DHS to oversee the construction process, say Kansas Senators Pat Roberts (R) and Sam Brownback (R) and Representative Lynn Jenkins (R, 2nd Congressional District), who are adamant that this project go forward after the hard work they have devoted to persuading DHS to build NBAF in Manhattan, Kansas. (5) Former Governor Kathleen Sibelius (D) also worked for the project before she moved to Washington, D.C., as the Obama administration’s head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts. Source: http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/archives/99-roberts.jpg; accessed September 21, 2009.		U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. Source: http://www.granitegrok.com/pix/sambrownback.jpg; accessed September 21, 2009.
U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins. Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nGtw0-cHs0k/SbVbtQ6JbDI/AAAAAAAAAvc/KDjB9GFo_8k/s400/Jenkins,+Lynn+pearls.jpg; accessed September 21, 2009.		Former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius. Source: http://civileats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/sebelius2.jpg; accessed September 21, 2009.

Why might the NBAF in Manhattan, Kansas, be scuttled? Recall that the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an arm of the U.S. Congress, again blocked construction of the NBAF anywhere on the mainland U.S., primarily because of the threat of introducing foot and mouth disease virus, the most contagious agricultural disease among clove-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. If foot and mouth disease virus escapes from the NBAF—and it invariably will—the potential harm to American livestock herds, which would require sacrificing, and to the U.S. livestock economy, will be devastating. This exact scenario has happened before in Great Britain. 
For more information, see SEMP Biot Report #639 (August 15, 2009): “GAO again blocks Plum Island germ lab move to Manhattan, Kansas,” available at http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID=639.

Where does GAO suggest the NBAF should be built? The GAO wants the new facility built on Plum Island, New York, where the old facility—Plum Island Animal Disease Center--now resides. The island’s geography since 1954 has provided the safety corridor needed to perform research on foot and mouth disease virus and other organisms that require solitude in a high-containment laboratory. In fact, there has been an accidental release of foot and mouth disease on the island once before that personnel ably managed without introducing the disease onto the U.S. mainland.

Apparently, people on Long Island do not want an animal research facility located near them anymore. 

Notes:

1. Steve Kraske: “One more step on NBAF: Construction manager picked.” The Kansas City Star, September 18, 2009. Available at http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/20013; accessed September 21, 2009.
2. Chris Moon: “Construction manager selected for biodefense lab. Wichita Business Journal, September 18, 2009. Available at http://wichita.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2009/09/14/daily41.html; accessed September 21, 2009.
3. Website of Mortenson Construction is at http://www.mortenson.com/; accessed September 21, 2009.
4. Website of McCarthy Holdings is at http://www.mccarthy.com/; accessed September 21, 2009.
5. Press release: “Senators Roberts, Brownback and Rep. Jenkins: DHS moves forward on NBAF in Kansas; selects construction manager.” Website of Pat Roberts, U.S. Senator, R-Kansas. Available at http://roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=CDA9A78E-802A-23AD-449C-1D45E05FBBF7; accessed September 21. 2009.