Plum Island disease lab sale
A new York congressman whose district contains an island where a federal lab studies harmful animal diseases is questioning plans to move the lab.
Rep. Tim Bishop stated these days he’s written to leaders of the Home homeland security subcommittee to say he’s concerned concerning the proposed sale of Plum Island. Hearings about the sale are scheduled this week.
The Plum Island Animal Disease Center is 100 miles northeast of New York City within the Long Island Sound. It’s been referred to as a potential terror target because of its stock of vaccines and diseases such as African swine fever.
U.S. officials plan a fresh facility in Manhattan, Kan. Safety studies for moving the lab are under way.
Bishop says the new lab could expense more than $650 million but the Plum Island sale may well yield just $50 million to $80 million.
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