Pennsylvania bio-terror laboratory fails inspection
Pennsylvania-based BSL-3 BioLab fails, yet again, a safety inspection; the facility was finished in 2007 but has been beset by an assortment of delays, poor construction, and breakdowns
Allegheny County’s $5.6 million bio-terror laboratory in Lawrenceville has failed an inspection, delaying once again the opening of the facility that was finished in 2007 but has been beset by an assortment of delays, poor construction, and breakdowns. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that an independent inspector, Larry Milchak, cited the lab for faulty alarms signaling a power failure and poor seals around doors and other areas of the biosafety level-3 lab that could allow contaminated, potentially deadly air to leak out.
The Allegheny County Health Department has moved workers into other parts of the 10,000-square-foot facility and hopes to have the 500-square-foot “BSL-3” lab fixed, reinspected and operational in time for the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh 24-25 September.
The BSL-3 laboratory is outfitted with special ventilation systems, equipment, and safety features that allow it to test for bioterror agents like anthrax, plague, and botulism. Passing the inspection allows it to become part of the federal Laboratory Response Network. Although the lab will have the capacity to handle the worst of pathogens, the bulk of its work will involve regular county testing for infectious disease.
