With safeguards, new biosafety lab will benefit isles

The West Oahu public concern is understandable, but the greater public need is undeniable.

Officials of the Pacific Health Research Laboratory, a research unit of the University of Hawaii, have been making the rounds in Leeward communities, and making a persuasive case for the wisdom of building a large biosafety laboratory in Kalaeloa.

The lab, which would occupy a 2-acre site near a Hawaii National Guard hangar, would be a Level 3 facility, which means it would be able to test samples of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, West Nile virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Those may conjure rational fears, but Hawaii is vulnerable to such devastating illnesses independently of any laboratory proposal.

According to minutes of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board June meeting, Vivek Nerukar, professor and chairman of the UH Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, said Hawaii needs the lab because many infectious diseases are emerging from Asia, and the islands are positioned at the crossroads for travelers.

Having the facility here means that infectious agents can be detected and diagnosed more quickly, the board was told. Taking the dengue fever incident as an example, the proposed lab would be able to provide rapid response and diagnosis within six to eight hours.

Residents of the surrounding communities have not been shy about expressing their misgivings, and that testimony applies critically needed pressure to ensure that project managers maintain full disclosure about their plans and safety backstops.

And that’s what proponents appear to be doing, posting a detailed website about the lab (www.phrl.hawaii.edu). On the site’s frequently asked questions page, for example, the handling of biological waste and disposable lab supplies is explained. Both are sterilized in a kind of laboratory pressure cooker, and then double-bagged and labeled with the date and person responsible for the experiment before being taken to the HPOWER incinerator.

Between six and 10 experiments could be conducted at a time, according to the website, which is one reason cited for needing a large lab in addition to the Level 3 facilities at the John A. Burns School of Medicine and the state Department of Health: "If Hawaii were to face a major outbreak of a new, unknown infectious disease like SARS in 2003, the current lab capacity would be overwhelmed and public health would be at risk."

That’s the foundational argument in favor of the project, but there are secondary advantages, too. In addition to the estimated 200-plus temporary jobs for construction, the finished, $47.5 million facility would be staffed with 20 highly skilled employees. The lab’s potential for training UH-West Oahu students also has been noted.

The discussion needs to continue as the review of the project moves forward, and the message allaying the fears of the community should be paramount. But it should move forward, above all, and give Hawaii a crucial asset for research into infectious diseases, and for the timely management of the public-safety threat that an outbreak could represent.