Stop The Bioterror Lab

Town of Brookline

WHEREAS: The Town of Brookline strives to protect its citizens from all harm, including the risks from biological and toxic sources; and

WHEREAS: Boston University is planning to build a BioSafety Level 4 Laboratory in a densely populated area of Boston, which is less than three miles from Brookline, and research in that Laboratory is likely to include work on the most dangerous infectious agents, such as Anthrax, Ebola, other hemorrhagic fevers, and other substances that would be classified as bioweapons; and

WHEREAS: That laboratory would be a likely target for terrorists and subject to accidental releases of deadly, air-borne substances, or the accidental infection of laboratory workers who live or travel through Boston and Brookline, which would result in very serious and possibly catastrophic harm to residents of Brookline and to our neighbors in Boston and the surrounding communities; and

WHEREAS: State Superior Court Judge Gants has vacated the Final Environmental Impact Review of the BioSafety Level 4 Laboratory submitted by Boston University, declaring it “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered that additional environmental reviews be carried out to provide an adequate analysis of “worst case scenarios” and the comparative risks of placing the lab in an alternative, less populated, site: and

WHEREAS: There is widespread community opposition to this laboratory (operating at Level 4 of the BioSafety designations) throughout the Boston metropolitan area, including citizens of Brookline who realize that an accidental release or an accidentally infected laboratory worker will not stop at the line between Brookline and Boston; and many Brookline residents have requested further environmental impact reviews; and

WHEREAS: Boston University and the NIH have committed themselves to developing a community relations plan to improve community input and involvement, including discussions of DNA research protocols and limitations on such work; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Brookline will contact the Director of the National Institutes of Health, urging him to hold further community meetings, and to review that community input, all required environmental impact reviews, and any other appropriate safety data, before approving construction of the Level 4 BioSafety Laboratory; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Brookline support completion of the building for any other purpose than a Level 4 BioSafety Laboratory; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Brookline is in principle opposed to the construction of Level 4 BioSafety laboratories in densely-populated areas; and be if further

RESOLVED: That the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Brookline notify the Director of the National Insitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); Governor Deval Patrick, Congressman Barney Frank, Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, the Brookline state legislative delegation, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the Boston City Council of this Resolution.

February 27, 2007

Town of Brookline
Board of Selectmen