TOPEKA, Kan. — A new report contends that federal officials have underestimated the risks associated with building a new lab in northeastern Kansas that will study dangerous animal diseases that can be passed to humans.
The National Research Council report criticizes placing the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, a college town in the heart of cattle country.
The Department of Homeland Security says the lab will be safe.
But the research council notes in its report released Monday that the homeland security agency itself estimates there is about a 2 percent chance each year that a pathogen could be released.
DHS spokesman Chris Ortman said the calculation “was based on a cumulative worst-case scenario” and did not consider any safety measures the department will incorporate during design and construction of the lab.
