Hearing on proposed biodefense lab near Falls Lake set for Tuesday

There will be a public hearing on Tuesday, July 29 for citizens to comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). The hearing will take place in the gymnasium of the Butner-Stem Middle School at 501 East D St. in Butner, N.C. from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and again from 6 to 1o p.m.

Along with locations in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi and Kansas, a site near Butner in Granville County is being considered for a facility to research animal diseases, including highly transmissible Foot and Mouth Disease. The facility would also study potentially lethal diseases that are contagious to humans, including Rift Valley Fever, H5N1, Nipa and Hendra viruses.

Compounding concerns, the facility's waste would be discharged after pretreatment to a tributary of Falls Lake, Raleigh's drinking water supply.

Raleigh City Council has voted to oppose the Butner site in order to protect its drinking water from impacts of the facility's construction as well as its operation. Several Granville County towns have also voted to oppose or withdraw support from the facility, citing concerns about accidents, security, lack of transparency, public health, use of private contractors, water use and wastewater discharge, the high cost of additional infrastructure, and concerns that there will be little economic benefit locally.

For more about the facility and its potential impacts, click here for the Granville Non-Violent Action Team's website. You'll also find details there on how to weigh in during the official comment period, which runs through Aug. 25.

(Map of proposed NBAF sites from the Granville Non-Violent Action Team's website)