UPDATE: DHS reverses decision to close NYPD radiation lab

Yesterday we reported that DHS had decided to pull the plug on the New York City-based Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML), an obscure legacy office from the Energy Department that speciallized in radiation monitoring technology. It’s annual budget was only a paltry $10 million, and it’s defenders say the office is being closed “because Department of Homeland Security officials in Washington failed to understand its work.” Suffering withering heat after the announcement, DHS has now backed off its decision, with undersecretary Jay Cohen telling a congressional committee that the lab would remain in New York but that, owing to the high rents in lower Manhattan, he would have to “‘right-size’ its workforce and quarters.” (The lab has been criticized as having “ragged facilities” and “not what anyone would argue is vibrant.”) No doubt the lab’s defender’s are pleased with the reversal, but this seems more like a temporary repriece.