Los Alamos postpones controversial test of biowarfare detectors

Los Alamos postpones controversial test of biowarfare detectors

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (June 26, 1999 7:42 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Scientists have postponed indefinitely a planned open-air release of bacteria that would have been used Monday to test biowarfare detectors intended for battlefield use.

The planned tests at Los Alamos National Laboratory have raised questions about the lab's openness with the public as scientists expand their research into identifying and defending against biowarfare agents.

Homeowners in nearby White Rock complained to senior lab managers.

Lab officials did not reveal the exact nature of the concerns in White Rock but agreed last week to postpone the tests indefinitely. They scheduled a public meeting for July 7 at White Rock Town Hall to discuss the tests and have invited state health officials to attend.

Scientists had planned to release about an ounce of Bacillus globigii spores six times Monday night. The brownish-yellow clouds of bacteria spores were to have been released near the end of Frijoles Mesa.

Lab scientists wearing full-face respirators were to be downwind with a new suite of biowarfare detectors linked by computer and intended to be refined for battlefield use.

Bacillus globigii, or Bg, lives in local soils and is harmless to healthy adults. But the bacteria, in theory, could cause lung or eye infections in people with dramatically weakened defenses against bacterial disease, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.