NY congressman questions need to move Plum Island animal disease lab to Kansas

NY lawmaker questions Plum Island disease lab sale

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — A New York congressman whose district includes an island where a federal lab studies dangerous animal diseases is questioning plans to move the lab.

Rep. Tim Bishop said Monday he’s written to leaders of a House homeland security subcommittee to say he’s concerned about the proposed sale of Plum Island. Hearings on the sale are scheduled this week.

The Plum Island Animal Disease Center is 100 miles northeast of New York City in the Long Island Sound. It’s been called a potential terror target because of its stock of vaccines and diseases including African swine fever.

U.S. officials plan a new facility in Manhattan, Kan. Safety studies for moving the lab are under way.

Bishop says the new lab could cost more than $650 million but the Plum Island sale might yield just $50 million to $80 million.