Plum Island Updates?

Does anyone know if the facility has been moved to Kansas yet? I haven't heard anything new on the matter for quite some time.

reply to post by xHybr1dx


Did you see the Jesse Ventura documentary on it?

According to their FAQ download they are there as of August 2010...in Manhattan, Kansas.


Edit: I jumped the gun. Their animal disease research unit isn't there yet.


 The ABADRU is not connected with the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed National Agro- and Biodefense Facility (“N-BAF”), which DHS has said could be built here in Manhattan. ARS does have a connection with NBAF, in that ABADRL is collaborating with DHS and once the new DHS facility is built, our ARS Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, now at Plum Island, NY, will move to NBAF, thus increasing the level of additional collaborations available to the ABADRU scientists

reply to post by xHybr1dx


I thought they were moving it to Iowa State University?

reply to post by HoldTheBeans


Oh hell no Ames is a damn good party town. In all seriousness though I am only 2 hours away and just seeing your post made my heart sink because if x scenario were to happen and biological agents got out it probably wouldn't take that long to spread, but I am no expert.

I go to K-State and recently was out near the site of the facility that is being built to replace Plum Island. They are still doing a lot of earthwork out there. No buildings up or foundations laid.

Local planning from what I remember didn't have the facility opening until late 2012 or early 2013. Even then it would take a year or two to get all of the certifications and begin moving the research. A lot of what I read says it won't be until 2015 before anything meaningful happens.

If you want to locate it on Google Earth I'll list the location of where it is being built, but I bet that it won't be on there. I'd take pictures if I remember this Thursday when I go for my weekly walk out that way, but there are security measures already in place (front gate and chain link fence with US Government signs). I felt like I was being scrutinized for taking a GPS reading of the location for a project I'm doing. The RCPD have been likened to Gestapo and they have been known to have no qualms against pressuring college students.

39°12'11.17"N 96°35'5.06"W

I'll keep an eye out for anymore information. I'm going to be very busy the next 5-7 weeks as its close to the end of my degree. If I don't respond within a reasonable amount of time, send me a U2U and I'll try to pop back in with a report. If there are large-scale world events I tend to get on more often, otherwise its every other day to check the new topics, I'm not much of a poster sorry.

Edit:

I found the page on the K-State website with a diagram of the proposed site. The above location corresponds to the lower left corner where the parking lots are. The building in the lower right is the Pat Roberts Center (what function it has I don't know since it has a security gate of its own and isn't accessible to students from what I can see.

NBAF @ K-State

reply to post by superman2012


Why build a new facility. Couldnt they just use Ft. Deitrich?

Kstate a big vet school. Fits right in with testing crap on animals.

reply to post by HoldTheBeans


There are other aspects of K-State that play into it. The NBAF will be near the Vet School yes, but it is also near the research incubator. I was on a tour of that facility earlier this year and they said that some of the incubator labs would be moving to the new NBAF and that there could be more incubator businesses formed from NBAF projects.

Also K-State is expanding a lot of their research facilities in the sciences, and will be encouraging students to train to be technicians at the NBAF. Heck even the local community college is deploying an Associate's degree to do this specifically.

Likely there is also a connection to the locality of Fort Riley as well. Ft. Riley had the First Division of the US Army relocated back to it in the last few years and is also a training facility for armored vehicles (its actually almost time for them to do their spring training...that'll be a loud night). I'm sure they'll also be doing some training with troops on bio-warfare.

I am not aware of what the other sites offered, as NBAF was just being finalized as I came in, but I can offer what I do know. I still hope to go out near the site later this week to get some pictures for you guys if that's desired. They won't be extremely good because I'll have to take them with my cell phone (only 3.2 MP) and send them to my email just in case I get any flak for taking the pictures.

I know this is reviving an old thread, but I had heard some interesting information about the NBAF. Supposedly the workers are only now working on the foundation, and only work from 6-noon. They say its because of the heat, but few believe that as they have workers going on Fort Riley outside and in all day. Its very unlikely they will have the facility ready on time for when Plum Island is supposedly scheduled to be moving their material to Kansas. Not unless they kick into 24/7 mode come fall.

reply to post by Sir Solomon


Work that is outside has slowed / stopped / been moved all over the midwest because of the heat. In addition to the toll on humans, there is also an affect on machinery as well as construction materials (heat/humidity/etc).

Weve been seeing temps in triple digits, with the het index pushing a lot fo places between 103-112 degrees.

I figured as much, but thought since it was still relevant to the NBAF I'd better pop in here. You never know when even one piece of info matters.