Tracking NBAF: National Bio And Agro-Defense Facility Takes Shape In Kansas

In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to replace the old Plum Island Animal Disease Center off Long Island with a facility on the U.S. mainland to study Foot and Mouth Disease and other dangerous pathogens. Kansas won the job in 2008, with a site on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan.

But today, more than three years later, the proposed $1.14 billion National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility faces funding obstacles, safety questions, rising costs and political fallout. For Kansas and the Midwest, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Here you’ll find coverage and updates from Harvest Public Media, KCUR and Kansas Public Media.

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Tracking NBAF
10:34 am
Tue May 1, 2012

Exploring Options For NBAF

Credit nbafinkansas.org
A rendering of the proposed NBAF facility in Manhattan, Kan.

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

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Tracking NBAF
3:56 pm
Fri April 13, 2012

Public Hearing In Washington D.C. Looks At Alternatives For NBAF

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.

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Tracking NBAF
8:46 am
Thu April 5, 2012

Funding NBAF: As Congress Waits, Will Kansas Dollars Continue?

Credit Laura Ziegler / KCUR
Gov. Brownback signs an order creating an NBAF steering committee in Kansas.

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.

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Tracking NBAF
3:32 pm
Fri March 23, 2012

NBAF Feasibility Talks Continue

The Department of Homeland Security continued the conversation about funding challenges before the House Appropriations Committee in Washington, D.C. this week.

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Tracking NBAF
3:03 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

$1 Billion Price Tag For NBAF

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.

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Tracking NBAF
9:30 am
Thu March 15, 2012

Another Round Of NBAF Questions

Credit Laura Ziegler / KCUR
Some worry the NBAF site on the K-State campus puts students at risk.

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 in Washington, D.C.

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Tracking NBAF
9:45 am
Thu March 1, 2012

Latest NBAF Report Cuts Risk Of Pathogen Release

The risk of a pathogen release at the controversial National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility being built in Manhattan, Kan., is much less than originally calculated, according to a new, much-anticipated report from the Department of Homeland Security.

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Tracking NBAF
9:50 am
Thu February 23, 2012

Opponents Of High-Security Lab In Manhattan Gain Steam

Opponents of a controversial Kansas lab designed to study and combat biological diseases have recently found new energy, as work on the Department of Homeland Security project stalled.

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Tracking NBAF
3:51 pm
Thu February 16, 2012

Brownback Says Obama Still Committed To NBAF

Governor Sam Brownback says members of the president's administration continue to support the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, which is slated to be built in Manhattan.

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Tracking NBAF
9:40 am
Tue February 14, 2012

NBAF Supporters, And Opponents, In An Uproar After Obama's Funding Cuts

The White House budget for 2013 provides no construction funding for a planned livestock disease lab in Kansas and calls for a “comprehensive assessment of the project in 2012” to consider “the cost, safety, and any alternatives to the current plan.”

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Tracking NBAF
3:48 pm
Mon February 13, 2012

NBAF Funding Slashed In Obama Budget

Credit Bryan Thompson / Kansas Public Radio
Architectural rendering of NBAF building. President Obama has decided not to fund construction of the huge animal disease lab in Kansas next year.

Supporters of a high security bio-defense facility in Manhattan, Kan., got some depressing news today. The White House Budget for 2013 cuts funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) from $50 million to $10 million.

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Tracking NBAF
12:49 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Risk Unavoidable, With Or Without NBAF

Credit Wen Nag / Flickr.com
The proposed NBAF lab at in Manhattan, Kan., would guard the nation's food supply against diseases like bird flu and Mad Cow disease.

Kansas political leaders and top officials at Kansas State University are united in support of a plan to bring the nation's premier agricultural disease laboratory to the K-State campus in Manhattan.

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