Updated:
Tuesday December 30, 2008
Updated:
Tuesday December 30, 2008
GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDS KANSAS FOR NBAF
Click Here
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ATHENS GROUP GLAD BIOLAB NOT COMING TO TOWN
"WE WILL ACCEPT THE BLAME, BUT WE CAN'T TAKE CREDIT" Click Here
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DRAINS OVERFLOW AT LAB - UGA FACILITY CONTAMINATED
Click Here and Here
VET SCHOOL LEAK KEPT QUIET
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LAB'S 'MINOR INCIDENTS' STIR MAJOR DOUBTS
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ANTHRAX CASE RENEWS QUESTIONS ON BIOTERROR EFFORT
From The New York Times:
With so many people involved, there is insufficient federal oversight of biodefense facilities to make sure the laboratories follow security rules and report accidents that might threaten lab workers or, in an extreme case, lead to a release that might endanger the public, Mr. Rhodes testified.
Mr. Stupak, the congressman from Michigan, remains concerned.
“You have all these universities tripping over each other trying to be high-level biosecurity labs,” he said. “What the nation gets is a very expensive bill, less security and a greater risk to the surrounding communities.” Click here for full story
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FOOT-AND-MOUTH PLAN USED FLAWED STUDY
"The Bush administration has no evidence to support its contention that it would be safe to move research on highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease to the U.S. mainland near livestock, congressional investigators said Thursday....Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said plans by the Department of Homeland Security were not only "baffling, but dangerous." Click Here
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HOMELAND SECURITY WINS CONTROL OVER FOOT-AND-MOUTH RESEARCH
(5/7/08) - "Lawmakers on Wednesday tentatively agreed that national security officials should fully control the expected transfer of research of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease from an offshore laboratory to the U.S. mainland near livestock...The numbers of livestock in the counties and surrounding areas of the finalists range from 542,507 in Kansas to 132,900 in Georgia, according to an internal Homeland Security study." Click Here
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SCIENTIST'S ATTORNEY SAYS UGA SPREAD FALSE DATA TO WIN GRANTS
(4/18/08)“I can fully appreciate the ramifications it would have on the University of Georgia’s bid to become a national center for agro-bioterrorism research if President Adams were to truthfully acknowledge the role his office has played in the fabrication of scientific data..." Click Here
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CHECK OUR NEWS PAGE FOR THE LATEST COVERAGE.....
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$25M PLUS IN INCENTIVES FOR NBAF
"Georgia officials have offered more than $25 million in incentives to draw a federal research laboratory to Athens....The state of Georgia will provide about $15 million, the UGA Research Foundation $5 million and Athens-Clarke County about $1 million in incentives if Homeland Security picks 66 acres off South Milledge Avenue to build the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. That doesn't include free land valued at about $5.3 million." Click here
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ACCIDENTS AT DISEASE LAB ACKNOWLEDGED
"The only U.S. facility allowed to research the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease experienced several accidents with the feared virus, the Bush administration acknowledged Friday." (04/11/08) Click here
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BIOLAB PITCH A SECRET
"A University of Georgia-led group is considering spending more money to draw a federal bioresearch laboratory to Athens, but taxpayers might never know."
Click here
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FEDS WANT POWER PLANT FOR NBAF
"The federal government has asked Kansas and other states vying for a new Department of Homeland Security laboratory to commit to building a power plant for the facility, officials confirmed Friday."
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"Georgia officials, including spokesmen for the University of Georgia, Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, said Homeland Security hasn't asked Georgia to build a power plant as far as they know...." Click here
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DHS RELEASES EIS SCOPING REPORT
FROM THE DHS WEBSITE "The NBAF environmental impact statement (EIS) scoping period occurred from July 31 through September 28, 2007. During that time, the Department conducted eight public meetings in the vicinity of the proposed NBAF sites and in one regional location. The results of this process are documented in the NBAF EIS Scoping Report"
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Against Opposition: Homeland Security Defends NBAF - Oconee Leader ....Click here to read
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Raleigh, N.C. — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose a federal bio-defense laboratory proposed for Granville County....click here to read
From The Flagpole:"Davison reiterated that the NBAF proposal will not be debated by ACC Commissioners “on the floor,” and that they will not be expected to take formal action on the matter..." click here to read
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REPORT FROM NORTH CAROLINA'S DHS 2/21 MEETING "Frank allowed and facilitated a format of questions that pressed the DHS for answers to all questions. Having been present at both meetings, I only wish the same format would have been afforded to the concerned residents of Athens. In Athens if the DHS didn’t completely answer a question they were not pressed further and no follow-up questions were allowed...." Click here
WHY WERE NO FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS ALLOWED AT THE ATHENS MEETING? According to a 2/14/08 UGA Press Release "Each person approaching the microphone will be allowed one initial question and one follow-up question."
Click here
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Plum Island: Deadly Diseases on the Move?
AP Video
Edward Hammond of The Sunshine Project
talks about The Myths of NBAF
Click here for Videos
Download a Flyer!
Download and print this informational flyer to spread the word about why we don't want NBAF. Click Here to Download a Flyer.
Download Edward Hammond's Slide Presentation The Myths of NBAF here (.pdf document)
DO YOU HAVE A LETTER, COMMENTARY OR FORUM THAT WAS NOT PUBLISHED IN THE LOCAL PRESS? Please send it to director@athensfaq.org, and we will post it here.
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The following is an open letter to Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison:
The tide has turned against the special interests and in favor of the people of the Athens area.
The truly informed people of Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties are rejecting the nightmare the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility would be on South Milledge Avenue next to the Botanical Garden - a nightmare that you, as our mayor, invited the Department of Homeland Security to impose on our community.
Your action apparently was based on now-discredited propaganda from DHS and the University of Georgia, and was taken without citizen input. At the time, there was very little substantive understanding by you or anyone in the Athens-Clarke County government of the full scope of the problems, risks and costs involved with the NBAF.
Even if you acted in good faith at the time, your letter to DHS stating, "We stand ready to accept this facility and are prepared to assist in whatever way we possibly can," now can only be seen, based on credible examination, as ill-considered and irresponsible.
We ask you as our friend, neighbor and fellow Athenian, to re-examine your earlier actions and reject the NBAF in light of the facts revealed by the Government Accountability Office and the DHS's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Saying "no" to the NBAF would protect, rather than exploit, Athens' unique quality of life.
We look forward to seeing you at the DHS's public meetings Thursday.
We hope you've had a chance to read the full DEIS. Please don't be lulled into complacency by the misleading executive summary or swayed by the proponents of the NBAF.
Kathy Prescott
Grady Thrasher
Editor's note: Prescott and Thrasher are co-founders of the local nonprofit organization For Athens Quality-of-life.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 081308
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