Tracking NBAF

The troubled National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kan., got a financial shot in the arm yesterday.

It’s another big week for NBAF, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility under construction in Manhattan, Kan.

In its first public hearing today in Washington , D.C. a new panel of the National Research Council will discuss alternatives for the National Bio and Agro -Defense Facility  -- or NBAF.

With federal funding more at risk than ever for Manhattan’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback recently said the state could expect what he called “a fight” for the next five years.

The Department of Homeland Security continued the conversation about funding challenges before the House Appropriations Committee in Washington, D.C. this week. With less than half the money her committee had two years ago, O’Toole reiterated the department is faced with choosing NBAF or the continuation of mission-driven R&D. She also said DHS was in the middle of construction plans for new headquarters, which needed funding as well.

The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility will cost more than $1 billion when all is said and done, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed today during a conference in Washington, D.C. And that price tag is becoming a huge sticking point.

The latest in the dizzying round of discussions about the safety and security of the Department of Homeland Security’s high-level bio containment lab in Manhattan, Kan., will take place this Friday, March 17, in Washington, D.C.