The Dept. of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has announced that 18 sites located in 11 states have advanced to the next phase in the competitive process to select the site for DHS’s proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).
A joint venture with the U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA) and the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), DHS is developing the requirements for a next-generation biological and agricultural defense facility to enhance and protect the country’s agriculture and public health.
The work planned for the NBAF will address biological and agricultural national security risks by co-locating scientists from several federal agencies in a state-of-the-art bio safety containment facility.DHS plans to equip the NBAF with laboratories that will conduct research in high-consequence biological threats involving foreign animal, zoonotic (transmitted from animals to humans) and human diseases. DHS plans to house laboratories that will provide high security spaces for agricultural and animal studies and training.
In addition, DHS plans for the NBAF to develop vaccine countermeasures for foreign animal diseases and provide advanced test and evaluation capability for threat detection, vulnerability and countermeasure assessment for animal and zoonotic diseases.Based on the criteria of acquisition/construction/operations, research capabilities, workforce and community acceptance, the 18 sites advancing include: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (California), Georgia Consortium for Health and Agro-Security (2 sites), Heartland BioAgro Consortium (Kansas-2 sites), Kentucky and Tennessee NBAF Consortium (Kentucky), Mid-Atlantic Bio-Ag Defense Consortium (Maryland), Gulf States Bio and Agro-Defense Consortium (Mississippi-3 sites), University of Missouri at Columbia, North Carolina State University-College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University, Brooks Development Authority and Brooks City-Base Foundation (Texas), Texas Research and Technology Foundation, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (Texas) and University of Wisconsin-Madison site at the Kegonsa Research Facility.
DHS plans to narrow the list to a small group of finalists by the end of 2006. Following Environmental Impact Studies of the finalists, DHS expects to name the final NBAF site in early 2008.