The federal government might soon scrap its plans to sell
This week, the Obama administration announced that its proposed 2013 budget does not include funding for a new bio-level 4 disease research facility proposed to be built in Manhattan, Kansas, according to a report in Newsday. That lab would eventually take the place of the Plum Island Animal Disease Research Facility — a bio-level 3 research facility said to have studied diseases harmful only to animals, such as foot-and-mouth, since 1954.
Since 2008, federal government officials have been saying that they wanted to sell the entirety of Plum Island to help fund the new facility, which would include the study of diseases harmful to humans as well as animals — a move U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop has long opposed. Plum Island continues to employ scientists and researchers from around the world and support staff from the East End and Connecticut.
So... what do you think?so close yet so far away across the Plum Gut? Or do you think Plum Island will close soon — maybe less dramatically than the feds had planned — anyway? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
