Editorial: Tracking deadly cargo
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 | 1:39 a.m.
A new federal report says U.S. anti-terrorism agencies don't know how many of the nation's research laboratories handle hazardous toxins and germs. The agencies are not adequately tracking accidents, losses of dangerous substances or the potential for terrorist attacks at these labs.
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, prepared the report for a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing conducted Thursday.
According to the GAO, the federal government regulates 409 laboratories that work with some of the world's deadliest toxins and organisms, including anthrax and the bacteria or viruses that cause plague, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and several strains of flu.
The GAO's review of 12 U.S. anti-terrorism agencies revealed that none is responsible for assessing the risk of terrorist attacks on these facilities, and the agencies have trouble keeping track of where all these facilities are.
U.S. intelligence officials told the GAO that adequate oversight of the laboratories' work is hindered by regulation failures in countries that ship toxic substances to the United States. More than 100 accidents and missing shipments involving deadly toxins have been reported since 2003, an Associated Press story said this week.
In one instance, the GAO reports, inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which inspects labs once every three years, visited a Texas A&M University research laboratory less than two weeks after a worker there had been accidentally exposed to dangerous bacteria and later fell seriously ill.
But no one told the CDC inspectors.
In fact, the GAO says, contrary to law, the laboratories have failed to report accidents with hazardous biological substances.
It is astonishing that dozens - maybe hundreds - of U.S. laboratories are working with deadly toxins such as anthrax or bird flu virus without adequate oversight or protection. It is equally unnerving that government regulators have been unaware that shipments of biohazards have gone missing, in some cases, for years. The federal government simply must do a better job of overseeing these laboratories and the deadly substances with which they work.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Ensign moves out of home on C Street
- Cada and Moon emerge as Main Event’s final two
- Fight snapshot: Reviewing “24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto,” episode 3
- Life in the Limelight: Wayne Newton
- Cities, county find buying valley homes isn’t easy
- Motorcyclist dies in Summerlin crash
- Six people share their stories of what led them to jobs at CityCenter
- Two injured in shooting in central valley
- Buchanan was one of the city’s truly flamboyant characters
- Fight snapshot: Pacquiao is a hit with Jimmy Kimmel, and vice versa
Blogs
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Final Five have two routines each on Dancing With the Stars
The Coin Bucket
Blue Man Group at half price for locals
Elsewhere
Findlay Prep's Bradley fitting in at Texas (2 Comments)
Now and Then
I went to a hockey game and a New Mexico women's soccer match broke out (1 Comment)
Politics: The Early Line
Attention in D.C. focuses on health care proposals (1 Comment)
Elsewhere
Fedor v. Rogers delivers solid ratings on CBS (5 Comments)
Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity
If you can rebuild the whole car, then why not allow an engine change? (1 Comment)
Calendar »
- 9 Mon
- 10 Tue
- 11 Wed
- 12 Thu
- 13 Fri
-
Jo Dee Messina at the House of Blues
House of Blues | 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
-
The Revival Tour at Beauty Bar
Beauty Bar | 9 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
DJ Tina T at Prive
Prive | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
The Automatic Tour at The Square Apple
The Square Apple
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati








