National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

Reported in yesterday's Washington Post:

The government has recommended a site in Kansas for a new $450 million laboratory to study biological threats such as anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease, officials said Wednesday.

The Department of Homeland Security chose Manhattan, in central Kansas, amid intense competition from sites in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.

Agency officials disclosed their decision to several lawmakers late Tuesday, said lawmakers and staff familiar with the briefings.

A Homeland Security spokeswoman said the department will have no comment until an announcement later this week.

The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility would replace an aging 24-acre research complex on New York's Plum Island.

I will have to look into this announcement later. I wonder if the new Congress might ask DHS to revisit this decision, given the stated competition. I also wonder about the wisdom of placing a biosecurity lab in the middle of America's breadbasket and cattle region. Not the place I would rank as first to study foot-and-mouth disease and wheat rust.