More Data Needed to Assess Risk at BU Lab, Report Says

An environmental consultant contracted by the National Institutes of Health has not provided adequate assessment of the public health concerns surrounding Boston University's controversial research lab in the South End, an independent panel of scientists reported this month.

The National Research Council, a group hired by the government to assess its ongoing environmental safety report at the lab, said materials produced by Tetra Tech fail to answer crucial question surrounding what could go wrong at the facility and how it would be addressed.

"These analyses do not, so far, represent a thorough assessment of the public health concerns raised by the committee in its previous reports," council chairman John Ahearne wrote in a letter introducing the report, which was submitted Nov. 5.

In its 2008 report, the committee asked for specific scenarios in which infectious agents could be released from the facility, along with the probability that those scenarios would occur, and what the consequences would be if they did.

In its most recent material, Tetra Tech failed to provide data-driven answers to those questions, substituting expert opinions through a modified process, the report states, calling the misstep a "tactical error."

As a result, the council "concluded that it cannot endorse as scientifically and technically sound the illustrative analyses presented," the report states.

The laboratory, which is not currently in use, was built with a $128 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, and is designed for pathogen research. Diseases and pathogens to be studied include the dangerous Ebola and Marburg viruses and plague bacteria.  

Boston University released a statement last week calling the additional scientific analysis "vital" to the project's credibility.  

"We are disappointed that Tetra Tech's preliminary report did not respond to all of the recommendations previously made by the National Research Council," the statement read. "Unless the final report is thorough, complete, and scientifically sound, the permitting of the laboratory cannot proceed."

In a statement posted on its website, the National Health Institutes said the risk assessment is now at an interim stage.

"NIH and its contractor will consider carefully the [council's] comments on this latest presentation as work continues on the risk assessment," the statement read. "NIH…will work diligently to respond to the concerns of the state and federal courts, the Boston community, and the general public."

According to the statement, a draft of the full supplementary risk assessment is expected to be available for public comment in early 2011.

To view a full copy of the council's report, click here.