CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia agency that tests food and farming products says it needs $8 million to renovate its laboratory.
A House-Senate interim committee agreed Monday to recommend the funding after hearing from Department of Agriculture officials.
The department's duties include testing food as well as animal feed, fertilizer and pesticides. The agency's lab checks the quality of these products and the accuracy of their labels. It also tests food safety, and is part of a network meant to prevent bacterial and viral outbreaks.
The $8 million would renovate lab space assigned to the department at the West Virginia Education, Research and Technology Park in South Charleston.
This former Dow Chemical facility would replace the department's main lab in Kanawha County. It was previously a Cold War-era radar base's recreation hall.
