Looking for a little island property near the Hamptons in New York? How about a charming old Biosafety Level 3 facility?

Plum Island Animal Disease Center Image: Wikipedia

The US government is taking steps to sell Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the government-run lab which has conducted experiments on pathogens such as foot and mouth disease. The town board of Southold in Long Island, New York, received a visit this week from representatives of the United States General Services Administration, the agency responsible for federal real estate transactions, to discuss issues involved in selling the property, according to NorthFork.com, a Hamptons news outlet. A GSA official said the government was collecting information on the sale of the island, which could be completed by 2011 or 2012, Northfork.com reports. (Southold is responsible for zoning Plum Island).

The move comes as plans to build a new, $500 million biosecurity lab hit another snag. A report released last week by the Government Accountability Office criticized the decision to build the facility in Kansas, saying that the choice was based on a faulty risk-assessment study and that such research would be unsafe at any mainland location. A Congressional hearing on the matter set for last Thursday was delayed with no rescheduled date.




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