[exclusive] National Bio and Agro Defense Facility: Feasibility Study

Through the Freedom of Information Act, The Memory Hole has obtained the official feasibility study for the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF) from the Department of Homeland Security.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOCUMENT [PDF | 18 meg | 366 pages]

The report explains the NBAF:

NBAF is envisioned to provide the nation with the first integrated agricultural and zoonotic disease, research, diagnostics, training and evaluation (RDT&E) facility with the capability to address threats from high-consequence zoonotic disease agents and foreign animal disease (FAD) agents. The facility will also provide the additional infrastructure required for threat and vulnerability assessments and for testing and evaluating promising FAD and zoonotic disease countermeasures. NBAF will support the complementary missions of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The NBAF will replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Unlike Plum Island, it will contain a Biosafety Level 4 lab, the highest level, where the most virulent germs will be studied - those that have no cure or vaccine.

The DHS’s site says that the NBAF scientists will work with Foot and Mouth Disease, Classical Swine Fever, African Swine Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, Japanese Encephalitis virus,  Nipah virus, and Hendra virus. The feasibility report adds Avian Influenza viruses, Vesicular Stomatitis viruses, and Newcastle disease viruses.

While the Plum Island facility is located on an island off the coast of Long Island, New York, thus providing a bit of a barrier between the diseases and the rest of the country, the NBAF will be located on the mainland. (Five locations are currently being considered.)

I requested the feasibility study for this nerve-racking facility and was surprised and delighted to receive the report quickly and in completely uncensored form. No withheld pages, no blacked-out passages. (Kudos to the DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, which oversaw the release.)

Thus, a lot of detailed information is now available, regarding both the NBAF and Level 4 biolabs in general. Lots of floorplans, cutaway diagrams, photos, charts, etc. I’ve pulled out a few of the most interesting bits below and on some separate pages:

>> Test fits for four of the proposed NBAF sites (in Georgia, Kansas, Miss., N. Carolina)

>> Floor plans of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center

Further reading: Official NBAF site | Official Plum Island sites from DHS and USDA | Wikipedia articles on the NBAF and Plum Island | Stop the NBAF | CRS report: The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility: Issues for Congress [PDF]

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

———————————————-

NBAF’s Biolevel 4 Lab

———————————————-

———————————————-

Biosafety Level 4 Flow Diagram

———————————————-

NBAF’s Proposed Radial Floor Plan (Ground Floor)

———————————————-

NBAF’s Proposed Radial Floor Plan (Floor 1)

———————————————-

NBAF’s Proposed Linear Floor Plan (Ground Floor)

———————————————-

NBAF’s Proposed Linear Floor Plan (Floor 1)

———————————————-

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

———————————————-

———————————————-

———————————————-

———————————————-

———————————————-

———————————————-

———————————————-

Holding Room Utilization

———————————————-

———————————————-

Viral Production (BSL-3)

———————————————-

———————————————-