A Lack of Imagination………Again?

Salado, Texas.  Do our Biosafety (BSL) Levels 3 & 4 Laboratories provide terror groups with a more horrible and more lethal weapons delivery platform than the aircraft they used on September 11^th, 2001?

I’ll never forget the Public Statement Release of 9/11 Commission Report from the Hon. Thomas H. Kean and the Hon. Lee H. Hamilton on July 22, 2004….. “But on that September day we were unprepared. We did not grasp the magnitude of a threat that had been gathering over time. As we detail in our report, this was a failure of policy, management, capability, and – above all – a failure of imagination.”

The General Accountability Office (GAO) released reports and recommendations regarding “High Containment Laboratories” in 2007, 2008 and 2009, but as of this writing, I can find no single Federal agency responsible for developing and measuring the standards to ensure the security of all agents used in our BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories. Is it HHS/CDC? Is it the DOJ/FBI? Is it DHS…or is it all of the above?  My motto is: “If everyone is responsible, no one is accountable.”

Is this a “Back to the Future” moment? Could the proliferation of Biosafety Laboratories across America and the World present an irresistible opportunity for terrorists?  Can we “Imagine”:

·         A terrorist group notifying the Federal Government that they have acquired killer biological agents from our BSL labs and prepositioned the agents with their terror cells in cities across America?

·         A threat from a terrorist organization warning the United States to take (or not take) actions against Iran, lest they unleash the killer agents on our population centers?

·         A directive to release terrorists from US custody or face a retaliatory attack for every terrorist held by American officials?

I can surely imagine these scenarios since there are a lot of folks in the world that would love to do us great harm.

Is it too late to put stringent measures in place?  If not, here are a few recommendations for limiting the unauthorized removal of dangerous biological agents from BSL 3 & 4 laboratories.

1.      Implement strict initial and periodic FBI background checks on every person who has access to a BSL 3 or BSL-4 laboratory.

2.      Require every BSL-3 and BSL-4 to implement a Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) and the Human Reliability Program (HRP).  I have heard academics claim that PRP/HRP programs haven’t proven effective deterrents. They are wrong. Contact the US Air Force PRP/HRP offices and (if cleared) they will present researchers with all the proof they need.

3.      Prevent unlawful agent transport by requiring all vials, or any other container be easily detected as anomalies on whole body scanners (or require industry to manufacture these vials.

4.      Install whole body scanners at exit points (and strictly restrict exit points) in BSL3 and BSL-4 laboratories. I have found no exit security measures in place to prevent agents exiting BSL 3 or 4 laboratories to prevent smuggling agents out through body orifices.

5.      Prohibit the resale of any equipment declared excess from BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories.

6.      Tightly control the resale of any excess equipment from public health laboratories, hospital labs and pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment which can be used to unlawfully manufacture and transport biological agents. (Centrifuges, mixer/investors, warming units etc.).

7.      Scrutinize all procedures for BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories in jurisdictions vulnerable to alternative points of entry into America. Suspect international deep sea ports (crews on liberty), cruise terminals (crew disembarking) etc., where biological agents can be handed off from a terrorist scientist to a terror cell member for transport out of area to other areas of America.

Every time I take my shoes off at a TSA screening point, I think of the shoe bomber and every time I pack shampoo, mouthwash and other toiletries, I think of the liquid bomb mixing terrorists. Every time I go through a body scanner, I think about the underwear bomber and wonder what the next after-the-fact screening measure might be in store for us.

The fact is, each of the above measures was a reactionary measure. With the lethality of agents used in our BSL 3 and BSL 4 laboratories, reactionary steps will be too late. The number of fatalities caused in a biological attack with an agent that may not be treatable, will be so horrific, these labs may be closed down and moved offshore. Any reactionary action will be too late to save the countless lives lost because of……A failure of imagination-Again.