Some UH regents look askance at biosafety lab plan

Some members of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents are skeptical about whether the $2.2 million operating costs of a biosafety lab planned for Kalaeloa will benefit the state.

The proposed $47.5 million Pacific Health Research Lab would be capable of testing infectious agents such as tuberculosis bacteria and viruses that cause dengue fever and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

It could be used for vaccine research and early detection of potentially deadly diseases from the Asia-Pacific region.

The university had hoped the Army would allow the lease of 2 acres at Kalaeloa for little or no cost. But the Army is now asking for lease rent of $218,850 per year.

UH-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple on Wednesday updated the board on the lab. The regents gave UH President M.R.C. Greenwood and board Chairman Eric Martinson the authority to continue negotiations with the Army to try to reduce the rent and to sign an agreement.

But several board members are worried about the lab’s operating costs and asked Apple to report by March 1 with a detailed financial plan and justification for the project.

“I am concerned that we are slowly, piece by piece, approving this project without ever giving any consideration of its overall purpose and exactly what it is supposed to do for the state,” said regent John Holzman. “I’m not trying to stop the lab, but if we’re going to approve $15 million for construction and then run a deficit of $2 million a year, it’s time to look at it and reach a conclusion.”

The construction cost of the lab is covered by a $32.5 million provided by the National Institutes of Health and $15 million from the state and the university.

Regents did not discuss community concerns about having a lab with potentially dangerous bacteria and viruses and there was no public testimony.

The lab would be built to Centers for Disease Control biosafety Level 3 standards. The CDC’s lowest biosafety level is 1, and the highest is 4. It would not handle diseases that have no vaccines or available treatments.

Apple said the university has completed a final environmental assessment with a finding of no significant impacts. It is posted on the state Office of Environmental Quality Control website for public comment. NIH is preparing a companion environmental assessment and may issue a final finding of no significant impact as early as Dec. 11.

Vassilis Syrmos, associate vice chancellor for research at UH-Manoa, said the lab would help the university by providing high-tech jobs in research on infectious diseases.

The operating costs include 22 staff positions. Apple said it will also help UH-Manoa attract top researchers.

“I believe it’s really critical, not only to the state, but to the university,” Apple said. “I think we can have one of the best infectious disease labs in the world.”

Apple said that in a state dependent on tourism and the military, it is important to be able to identify disease threats.

He said he hopes UH can attract federal funds to help pay for the operation and that the Army would be willing to accept in-kind services rather than just cash to pay for the lease rent.

“It is an important decision they (the regents) have to make,” Syrmos said. “This is a very expensive proposition and it has to be well thought out and well executed if we go down that road.”