State Pushes For Bio Facility
US - North Carolina is among five states being considered for a massive $450 million federal research facility, and the state's public universities are emerging as key players in the lobbying effort."We're not just talking about cattle getting hoof-and-mouth disease and us not being able to eat hamburgers, it's about figuring out ways to protect our food supply and our national health."
Kimrey Rhinehardt, UNC-system vice president for federal relations.
The Department of Homeland Security has identified a site in Granville County, about 25 miles northeast of Chapel Hill, as a potential location for a planned National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.
"This is considered to be a federal research crown jewel," said Kimrey Rhinehardt, UNC-system vice president for federal relations. "It would be comparable to the CDC in Atlanta."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is an internationally renowned government research facility that deals with some of the world's most dangerous human pathogens.
The proposed Homeland Security facility would be comparable in mission, but would focus on threats to agricultural and animal health.
"We're not just talking about cattle getting hoof-and-mouth disease and us not being able to eat hamburgers," Rhinehardt said. "It's about figuring out ways to protect our food supply and our national health."
North Carolina's campaign to woo federal officials is drawing heavily on the UNC system and its research campuses.