Resolution
 

NO BIO-TERRORISM RESEARCH IN CITY OF BOSTON 
 

Whereas, the League of United Latin American Citizens recognizes and promotes the need for healthy and safe communities and for environmental justice; and 

Whereas, members of the Roxbury Safety Net and residents throughout the City of Boston have expressed opposition to locating a BioSafety Level 4 (BSL4) bioterrorism research laboratory in the South End/Roxbury near Boston Medical Center that would perform research with agents used in biological warfare; and 

Whereas, the proposed bioterrorism research laboratory would be the first BSL4 laboratory in a densely populated urban neighborhood in the United States; and 

Whereas, the health and safety risks from the laboratory are serious because there can be no guarantee that agents that cause incurable diseases may not accidentally or intentionally be released from the laboratory; and 

Whereas, the laboratory might be a target for terrorism; and 

Whereas, there is no guarantee that the lab will operate in an open and transparent manner and that there will be sufficient public oversight and review of laboratory research with biowarfare agents; and  

Whereas, the laboratory is incompatible with the nearby residential neighborhood, medical campus and hospital that is the primary provider of free care in Boston,   

NOW IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED, that LULAC endorses the position statement of Safety Net in opposition to Boston University’s Bioterrorism Lab and urges the Boston City Council and Mayor Menino to pass an ordinance prohibiting research in BSL4 laboratories within the City of Boston.

Adopted this 1st day of July 2006.

Rosa Rosales
LULAC National President