WSANA ponders a trio of public-health concerns

On July 20, the Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association (WSANA) again discussed serious safety and sanitation concerns: the proposed level 4 research at Boston University's (BU) National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) on Albany Street, which has yet to gain final approval; a coalition to oppose a proposed construction waste facility at Widett Circle, amid existing food-processing plants; and the new round of applications for medical marijuana dispensaries. About 20 neighbors sought information from representatives of the Newmarket Business Association (NBA), the NEIDL and BPHC.

WSANA president George Stergios began the discussion of the NEIDL by noting the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) recent closing of two of its labs due to accidents involving the mishandling and potential exposure of dozens of lab workers to pathogens for anthrax and to a very dangerous strain of bird flu. Elsewhere at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) lab in Maryland, staff found a box of old smallpox samples improperly stored, some of which carried live virus. NEIDL director ad interim John Murphy and associate director Ron Corley described the NEIDL's safety protocols. Stergios asked, "How can you reassure us? Why shouldn't we be worried that the same sort of thing is going to happen here?" In stating their contention that such incidents are improbable at the NEIDL, Corley explained that while the CDCs are the regulatory agency for all level 3 and 4 agents, their own laboratories are regulated by the US Department of Agriculture, whereas the NEIDL is regulated by both the CDCs and BPHC. He said that in the CDC bird flu incident, a procedure called strain verification, in which samples sent from one lab to another are tested to verify their strain, was not performed, which is why researchers at the lab receiving the samples were not adequately prepared to handle dangerous bird flu. Corley maintained that strain verification is standard operating procedure at the NEIDL. According to Corley, level 4 facilities undergo a rigorous, week-long initial inspection of the facility and its procedures and annual re-inspections, with possible spot reviews in between. Corley added that the BPHC is the only public health commission in the country that oversees containment laboratories. Corley said that in the anthrax incident, researchers activated live samples without approval from an institutional biosafety committee, which is the first step in BU's safety protocol. Corley said that in both incidents, the CDC labs proceeded in a manner in which no lab should operate. WSANA member Bob Minnocci asked what would prevent this from happening at the NEIDL, since the CDC incidents were caused by human error. Corley responded that everything that goes on in BU's labs is monitored for safety compliance by its Environmental Health and Safety group. Local incidents involving unregulated removal and transport of lethal chemical agents by suicidal lab workers were raised, including a September 2010 instance in which a Northeastern University lab technician stole cyanide from a lab and carried it home on the Red Line, and an April, 2012 incident in which a BU graduate student committed suicide with sodium azide in her home at 676 Massachusetts Avenue, requiring the evacuation of surrounding buildings and decontamination of emergency responders at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Corley replied, "One thing we take very seriously is 'personnel suitability'. That is a process whereby not only do we review personnel on an annual basis, but we pay attention to whether they have personal risks. Are they having family issues? Is there any change in behavior? We have removed people when we were concerned about changes in behavior." A WSANA member asked how long the review process took and what was the risk of malicious behavior while the staff member was being evaluated. Corley recounted an incident in which an individual exhibited "aggressive behavior and did not fully buy into the culture of safety and the required protocols. After three or four events, it was brought to the committee for review." Corley said that within a week, the committee sent a letter to the individual suggesting that they transfer to another laboratory and come back to the NEIDL only after medical clearance. Murphy added that personnel in level 3 and 4 biosafety labs are registered with the CDCs for select agent clearance and are subject to federal background checks. Asked for a timeline for commencing with level 4 research, Corley estimated that it would be anywhere from six to 12 months from now.

Lisa Conley, Director of Intergovernmental Relations for BPHC, talked about future prospects for RMDs, or registered medical marijuana dispensaries, to be sited in Boston since the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) disqualified four provisionally approved applicants, including both applicants for Boston locations, in June. A new round of applications began earlier this month for Suffolk and other counties whose applicants were denied final approval. Green Heart Holistic Health and Pharmaceuticals, a California-based RMD operator that applied to open a dispensary at the former Skipton's pet supply center on Southampton Street, was disqualified due to discrepancies in its application. Addressing neighborhood concerns about an RMD coming to 70 Southampton Street in an area already dense with drug treatment and public-health facilities and close to the Orchard Gardens K-8 school and the New England Center for Arts and Technology, Conley said that RMDs are prohibited from being within 500 feet of schools, day care centers and other "places where children congregate." Bob Biggio, BMC's vice president for facilities and support services, observed that BMC has a pediatric emergency department which could be construed as a place where children congregate. Conley said that in the current application process, "The primary focus is going to be on community support." She added, "No one still thinks that [70 Southampton Street] is a good location for a dispensary." According to Conley, four applicants so far have been vetted for business plans and criminal background. She continued, "The process that ends in late August depends upon interaction with and support from neighborhoods. It will be really hard for them to site a dispensary anywhere where there is strong community opposition. We are going to be much more deliberate in this phase to make community outreach a priority." Conley continued, "We are not going to issue any letters of support from city agencies or mayor's office, but we have no control over what city council does." The latter referred to a letter of support for Green Heart from City Councilor Rob Consalvo, which caused consternation among South Enders for the perception that Consalvo, who lives in and represents Hyde Park, intervened without considering the position of the host community.

Sue Sullivan, executive director of the Newmarket Business Association (NBA), asked WSANA to join NBA's task force opposing the Celtic Recycling demolition and construction waste facility proposed at 100 Widett Circle, an area Sullivan called the "gateway to the city" and the site of several food-processing businesses that could be adversely affected by the waste facility. Sullivan criticized Celtic for its lack of community outreach and for lack of transparency. Sullivan said after the meeting, "The environmental impact report waiver was our indication that they were circumventing the public process. They filed the public notice in the newspaper on July 3, when a lot of people are out of town. Also, they asked members of the public to support them, telling them it was for recycling bottles and cans. It was very disingenuous." According to Sullivan, City Councilor Tito Jackson has come out against the plan, while District 3 City Councilor Frank Baker, who represents WSANA, "Is now doing his fact finding. He has met with the city and several people and he is still trying to understand both sides," Baker's assistant, Joe McEachern, reportedly told Sullivan. "Baker isn't going to let us get railroaded. He hasn't made an official determination. He knows we are overwhelmed with facilities," Sullivan added.

According to Sullivan, Celtic Recycling must first ask the City Council for designation as a "necessary and essential" facility, and she expressed concern that the company will try to evade community consideration. "They are doing things kind of cloak and dagger," she said. "We are being very vigilant that they will try to get it on Council agenda without public being aware of it. Councilor Baker's aide assured us that he won't let that happen and Jackson said essentially the same thing so I am very hopeful." Sullivan told WSANA that she is reaching out to groups in the South End, Roxbury and South Boston, including Blackstone/Franklin Squares Neighborhood Association and the Old Dover Neighborhood Association and to community newspapers to call attention to the Celtic Recycling plan. As she was present for the medical marijuana dispensary discussion, Sullivan added that NBA's Southampton Melnea Cass Safety Task Force monitors issues surrounding substance abuse treatment facilities. WSANA members agreed to consider joining the task forces at an upcoming meeting.