New Livermore facility to detect West Nile, anthrax

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 29, 2008 | by Betsy Mason

A newly constructed laboratory equipped to handle deadly airborne pathogens such as anthrax, bird flu and West Nile virus began operating Friday at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The new Biosafety Level 3 lab allows scientists to test detection devices being developed at the lab against the pathogens they are designed to detect. Previously, testing had to be done elsewhere, or with less dangerous strains of the microorganisms.

"Having all the capabilities in one place speeds up the process by many, many months if not years," said biochemist Eric Gard, who oversees work on pathogens at Livermore Lab.

Studies on deadly viruses such as HIV and tuberculosis can also be done in the new facility, as well as research into antibiotic resistance. Researchers will also use the new lab to study how the various pathogens attack animals such as mice in order to develop interventions and treatments for humans.

"It's not trivial to figure this out," said Livermore Lab microbiologist Paul Jackson. "It's a very complex process."

The Biosafety level distinctions are made by the Centers for Disease Control. Livermore Lab has had a Biosafety Level 2 lab running for seven years, where scientists do research on bacteria and viruses that can cause disease in humans, but for which there are treatments or vaccines.

Level 3 labs can handle pathogens that can be deadly if inhaled, but have treatments or vaccines such as SARS and yersinia pestis, which was responsible for the Black Death.

Livermore Lab's Site 300 near Tracy was being considered by the Department of Homeland Security for a Level 4 lab, which can handle deadly biological agents that have no treatment or vaccine, but was not selected.

The CDC requires certain safety procedures and equipment at Level 3 labs, including a double-door entry way and air flow that goes from the least contaminated areas to those with the highest potential contamination and is not recirculated into the building.

The Department of Energy has taken safety several steps further with the Livermore facility,which is the first Level 3 lab for the department. Air passes through two high-efficiency (or HEPA) filters before leaving the building, and workers are required to wear hoods with HEPA-filtered air flowing into them.

Every six months, the lab will be flushed with vaporous hydrogen peroxide to sterilize it, and all equipment will be re-certified. The CDC requires this be done annually.

Including the gate to Livermore Lab, there are four security badge checks to get into any one of the three lab rooms inside the building.

In addition to the 20 training courses workers must complete before gaining access to the lab, Livermore is adding physical and psychological examinations as well as random drug testing. Currently only six people have access to the lab.

"The security is way beyond anything that most universities would have," Jackson said.

The DOE released its final environmental impact assessment for the Biosafety Level 3 lab Monday, which found there was no significant impact.

But Marylia Kelley of the lab watchdog group Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment isn't convinced.

"I'm convinced that this laboratory poses a serious threat to health and safety," she said.

In 2006, in response to a suit filed by her organization, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the DOE to assess the potential for terrorist attacks. But the DOE decided there was no significant threat.

"They are dead wrong," Kelley said.

Kelley argues that the pathogens should stay at the CDC, and scientists should fly there to study them rather than sending the pathogens to Livermore.

Tri-Valley CARE plans to file suit again. In addition to the threat from a terrorist attack, the DOE is required by its own rules to have a 30-day comment period after releasing its finding of no significant environmental impact, she said.

Betsy Mason covers science and the national laboratories. Reach her at 925-952-5026 or bmason@bayareanewsgroup.com.