IG says delays in bioterrorism lab threatened D.C.'s capabilities
Washington, D.C. took ownership of the 5,285-square-foot Biosafety Level 3 lab, in which dangerous pathogens such as anthrax, tuberculosis, typhus, and yellow fever can be quickly analyzed; trouble is, the project is nine years behind schedule
Nearly a decade of delays getting D.C.’s bioterrorism laboratory up and running threatened the city’s capability to respond to a biological attack, the District’s inspector general concluded in a recent audit. The Department of Health took ownership of the 5,285-square-foot Biosafety Level 3 lab, built on the grounds of the shuttered D.C. Village homeless shelter, on 29 May — nine years after initiating the project. A lack of planning and coordination caused massive delays that “negatively affected” the District’s response capabilities, the IG wrote in the review, released last week. “The need for a fully operational BSL3 lab is critical to ensure the health and safety of the citizens of the District of Columbia,” auditors wrote. “Project management planning is essential in providing the framework in which to complete projects in a timely, efficient, and cost effective manner.”
The health department in May 1999 began its effort to build a BSL-3 lab, in which dangerous pathogens such as anthrax, tuberculosis, typhus, and yellow fever can be quickly analyzed. The federal government earmarked $9.6 million for the project, and the District struck an agreement with Maryland to send pathogens across the border while it waited for the facility to come on line. A series of planning failures spread the process over a period of nine years, the IG concluded: There was no effort to coordinate planning, procurement or project management, a nine-month delay sparked by a contract pricing dispute, and massive turnover within DOH. In his written response to the audit, Health Director Pierre Vigilance acknowledged that DOH “did not have in place a process for developing project management plans for approval,” but steps were later taken “to correct this deficiency.” Vigilance committed to proper management of all future large-scale projects.
The new lab will reduce the time it takes to identify most emerging disease agents and potential biological threats from three days to eight hours, according to the health department. Health technicians will be able to perform up to 30,000 tests a year. “Residents need to be assured that the Department of Health is equipped with all the resources needed,” said LaShon Beamon, DOH spokeswoman. “That lab definitely puts us on the map and on par with other jurisdictions.”
