Appellate court bars opening of biodefense lab

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the Energy Department from opening a biodefense lab at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory next month until it assesses the potential environmental effects of a terrorist attack on the facility. Antinuclear groups had sued the government in 2003 to prevent the opening of the biosafety level 3 lab, designed to improve detection of such pathogens as anthrax and plague. In an earlier study, the Energy Department dismissed the need for such an assessment, claiming that the possibility of the pathogens being released to the environment during an attack was remote. The appellate court disagreed and ordered the department to consider the risks and impacts of a terrorist attack before the facility can be opened. The assessment is likely to delay the opening by as much as a year.