The opening of a Biosafety Level-4 laboratory at Boston University's Medical Campus will be delayed until a sufficient review of the lab -- designed to study the world's deadliest pathogens, including Ebola, anthrax and plague -- is complete, involved parties said.
According to a schedule for the National Institutes of Health's review process, filed in federal court Jan. 28, the "NIH currently estimates that a final supplemental NEPA document will be released on or before April 30, 2009."
Safety Net, a community opposition group that claims BU and the NIH's review of the lab was inadequate, pegs the earliest possible opening date for the biolab in 2010, following a standard litigation and permit application period, according to a statement.
By federal order, BU is required to submit a supplementary report to the NIH environmental impact review.
BU Medical Campus spokeswoman Ellen Berlin said work on the report is "ongoing" and the BUMC supports the review process for the lab's environmental report.
"They need to take time to ensure that the new info they provide responds to all concerns," she said.
On the state level, the Massachusetts Supreme Court delivered a victory to biolab opponents in December, demanding further review of the biolab.
This followed the National Research Council's November report that said the NIH draft of the lab's environmental review was "not sound and credible." The NRC report states the NIH review had not "adequately identified and thoroughly developed worst-case scenarios" and lacked enough information to accurately assess the risks associated with the lab's South End location.
Berlin said BU has not set an opening date for the lab.
"We had hoped that [the biolab] would open in 2008, but it's very important to us that the scientific reviews are done appropriately," she said. "It's a little premature to estimate an opening date now."
NIH spokesman John Burklow said the review will be completed by April 2009 at the latest.
"We took the time to be generous, the time to get everything done including the time for public comment," he said. "We just want to make sure that we do everything right in a comprehensive way."
Burklow said it is too soon to speculate if the lab could be deemed unsafe even after further review.
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