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SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Department of Health has
protested a plan to build a laboratory at Dugway Proving Ground that
would be capable of testing bacteria and viruses for which there are
no known cures or
vaccines.
The department also said Monday that the Army's draft environmental
study on the biological test facility "has serious deficiencies."
Gov. Norm Bangerter and some members of Utah's congressional
delegation also oppose the Army's proposed $5.4 million biological
aerosol test facility.
The lab would have the highest level of containment possible, known as
"biosafety level 4."
The Army said it does not plan to conduct tests requiring BL4
containment, but it has not ruled out such tests in the future. Dr.
Suzanne Dandoy, executive director of the Health Department, said the
draft environmental study "is totally inadequate in justifying the
need or addressing the impacts of a biological level-four facility.
"We are opposed to the construction of a BL4 facility because there is
no justification of need nor information that demonstrates that the
public could be protected," Dandoy said in a letter Monday to Dugway's
commander, Col. James Tipton.
Dandoy recommended that a citizen advisory board of state and national
experts be created to evaluate the need for and potential risks
associated with a BL4 facility.
Dandoy also recommended the state be granted full oversight of
research at Dugway.
"Specifically, the Utah Department of Health should be apprised of all
microorganisms being tested, and should be notified immediately of any
accidental pathogen or toxin exposures or releases," the department
said. The department contends it is possible a worker "could be
unknowingly contaminated with a pathogen, spreading this in the
community before the contagion is recognized."
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