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Group Says Biodefense Labs Put U.S. At Risk

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The Associated Press

Published: October 17, 2008

WASHINGTON - Another frightening new government report is heightening fears about the safety of the U.S. biodefense laboratories that study some of the world's deadliest germs. The latest worry: Intruders could easily break into two of the labs because of lax security.

Two House lawmakers and members of a new citizen coalition - people "living in the shadow" of these labs - say the defensive biowarfare program has expanded too fast since Sept. 11. Security measures have not caught up, they said.

The latest government study, initially obtained by The Associated Press and released publicly Thursday, found that intruders could easily break into two laboratories handling organisms that could cause illnesses for which there currently is no cure.

The AP identified the vulnerable lab locations as Atlanta and San Antonio. The Government Accountability Office did not identify the labs except to say they were classified as Biosafety Level 4 facilities - requiring the highest level of security. But the report included enough details for the AP - and others knowledgeable about such labs - to determine their locations.

The new report, coupled with several investigative findings over the past year, revealed security and safety problems covering every aspect of the facilities: poor perimeter security, a growing number of accidents inside the labs and the FBI conclusion last summer that a civilian Army scientist at Ft. Detrick, Md., was behind deadly anthrax attacks in 2001.

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