[CPEO-MEF] Livermore Lab Site 300 Proposed Bio-warfare Agent Research/Press Release

[marylia@earthlink.net (marylia)]

Dear colleagues:

Questions about the appropriate boundary for legitimate "biodefense"
research are among the most important we face -- locally, nationally and
globally.

Below is a press release on a poblic workshop we are holding to discuss a
new bio-warfare agent research mega-complex -- aka the National Bio and
Agro Facility -- proposed for the Livermore nuclear weapons Lab's high
explosives testing range, called Site 300, near Tracy, CA. Read on...  (and
feel free to pass this on to media you know).

Peace,
Marylia

for more information, contact:
Loulena Miles, staff attorney, Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148
Edward Hammond, US Director of the Sunshine Project (512) 494-0545
Bob Sarvey, Business Owner in Tracy (209) 830-0349

For immediate release: September 8, 2006
COMMUNITY WORKSHOP ON PROPOSED BIOWARFARE AGENT RESEARCH
MEGA-COMPLEX AT LIVERMORE LAB SITE 300 NEAR TRACY

Watchdog Groups, Scientists to Present New Information, Safety Risks
on one of the World's Largest and Most Dangerous Biolabs

Should a half-million square feet of lab space to experiment with exotic
diseases like "mad cow" and "hemorrhagic fever" be built on Corral Hollow
Road -- where I-580, the City of Tracy and the Central Valley, our state's
ranching and agricultural heartland, meet? Is a nuclear weapons facility
presently on the EPA's Superfund list of the nation's most contaminated
locations the proper place to host a new biowarfare agent research
mega-plex? Does the country need additional biodefense capacity? How much
is enough, how much is too much?

These and other questions crucial to future of Tracy, the Central Valley
and the Bay Area will be discussed at a community workshop in Tracy on
Tuesday, September 12. Local residents, community groups, elected officials
and others will gather to hear presentations and discuss the proposed Dept.
of Homeland Security (DHS) National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF) at
Site 300, Livermore Lab's high explosive testing range in the Tracy hills.

If built, the controversial bio-warfare agent research complex would be one
of the world's largest biolabs, sprawling out over 500,000 square feet,
nearly twice the size of a "big box" store. In this Bio-Safety Level 3 and
4 lab space, researchers would experiment with an assortment of the most
dangerous pathogens and diseases known to man such as avian flu, live
anthrax, mad cow disease, plague and Ebola virus (among others).

"If these bio-agents are released, it could devastate our health,
environment and California's agricultural economy," stated Tri-Valley
CAREs' staff attorney, Loulena Miles.

The University of California (UC), which manages Livermore Lab for the
Dept. of Energy, submitted an "expression of interest," to DHS to build
this exotic bio mega-plex on 30 to 100 acres. The DHS will determine its
"finalist" candidate sites by the end of 2006, and perhaps as early as
October. The DHS has specified that "community acceptance" will be one of
the major criteria used by the agency in deciding where to locate the NBAF.

According to Miles, this workshop is critical to the community because it
is one of the only opportunities residents have to learn about the bio-lab.
"UC has thus far refused to even release page one of its proposal to the
public," noted Miles. "With the decision-date looming, Bay Area and Central
Valley residents have only a short period of time to educate themselves and
to speak out."

Ed Hammond, US Director of the Sunshine Project, believes that the federal
government is railroading this plan without considering national and
international risks. "The federal government hasn't made a convincing case
that we need this facility at all," he stated.

"The uncontrolled proliferation of labs studying bioweapons agents,
especially large BSL-4 animal labs like NBAF, is increasing the chances of
a serious accident and is poisonous to international cooperation to control
the risks of biotechnology," Hammond continued.

Biologist Dr. Judith Flanagan will also speak at the workshop. Among Dr.
Flanagan's concerns is that since the US has much more sophisticated
scientific expertise that any of the perceived "terrorist states" there is
a risk these labs may create bioweapon agents more potent than anything
terrorists are presently capable of manufacturing, thereby increasing the
potential for harm in the event of an environmental release.  "History
shows that the greatest risk is not rogue states, but trusted insiders.
Thus, rather than enhancing US national security, science-based
threat-assessment projects involving development of novel pathogens are
likely to create a vicious cycle that worsens the very real problem of
bioterrorism."

Tri-Valley CAREs' executive director, Marylia Kelley, said the risks posed
by the proposed biowarfare agent research mega-plex at Site 300 run the
gamut from local accidents to damaging the Biological Weapons Convention,
the international treaty aimed at stopping the spread of biological weapons
and warfare. "I am concerned about accidents," she said. "The Lab's history
of leaks and spills at Site 300 does not inspire confidence in their
ability to maintain this new facility safely."

Kelley continued, "Moreover, the mixing of 'bugs and bombs' could weaken
present international efforts to negotiate stringent verification and
enforcement protocols for the BWC." Miles concurred, adding, "How would one
conduct a surprise inspection at a classified nuclear weapons facility?"

                        ###

Event will be Tuesday September 12th, from 7-9 PM at Sarvey Shoe Store -
501 W. Grantline Road, Tracy, CA.




Marylia Kelley
Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94551

<http://www.trivalleycares.org> - is our web site address. Please visit us
there!

(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - is our fax


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