NIH issues approval on high-security lab in Hamilton

The National Institutes of Health released its final decision Thursday to build a biohazard lab here for research into some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

By the Associated Press

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/06/17/mtracker/news/75bio.txt

In its formal "Record of Decision," published Thursday in the Federal Register, the agency said it had concluded after extensive study that the lab would pose no "negative effects on the environment or on the citizens of Hamilton."

Some residents of the Hamilton area have complained that the proposed Biosafety Level 4 lab would be a hazard to the community, while others have praised the project as good for the town, the economy and science.

Congress has authorized $66.5 million for the new building, as part of a national push to accelerate research into infections occurring naturally or through terrorism.

Rocky Mountain Labs pioneered research into Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease. The lab first announced plans in February 2002 to build the Biosafety Level 4 lab on the 33-acre campus in Hamilton, a town of about 3,700 residents.

Initially, Rocky Mountain Labs planned to conduct a less extensive environmental assessment of the proposed biohazard lab, but agreed in September 2002 to conduct a more comprehensive environmental impact statement instead.

Results of that draft study, prepared by Maxim Technologies of Missoula, were released last summer and concluded that the Level 4 lab would be appropriate for the town.

Critics, however, complained the study failed to adequately address safety concerns about locating the facility in a populated area, and the NIH agreed to conduct a second EIS in an effort to address those concerns.

That study, released in April, also concluded that the lab posed no significant threat.

Jim Miller, president of Friends of the Bitterroot, a leading critic of the lab, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.