As we mention in this week’s Queque, the proposed federal National Bio- & Agro-Defense Facility germ lab for the latest in foot-and-mouth fun has cleared another hurdle. And San Antonio is still in the running.

Que2 wrote (with haunting bullet-replacing-question-mark furry:

Speaking of reasonable routes, how about tracing possible pathways for foot-and-mouth disease to reach American beef cattle? From an island off Long Island: Eight Ball says tricky. From a South Texas research lab: less so. At least that’s what some livestock associations decided before taking up their cattle prods to protest the proposed move of Homeland Security’s (do they run everything now, or just the doomsday stuff?) proposed $450-million National Bio- & Agro-Defense germ lab off of the now-infamous Plum Island.

Last Friday, Der Homeland released their Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Queque is merrily marching through the 1,005-page tome, but found a few nuggets worth passing along.

? No preferred alternative is announced. All five locations (Georgia, Kansas, Misissippi, Missouri, and SA’s Texas Research Park) are still in play;

? Homeland could start building in 2010 and finish in four years;

? The facility would use 52-million gallons of water annually if it comes to Texas and would require 12.8 megawatts of power (roughly equal to 7,000 homes cooking, air-conditioning, and computing for a year);

? And if foot-and-mouth disease should slip out it could cost Texas $4.1-billion in lost business and dead livestock.

Speaking in support of a new N-BAF facility, though not advocating for a location, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Gary Voogt put the full outbreak figure at $10-$34 billion. That is good enough reason for the folks at National Grange, the nation’s oldest farming association, to oppose moving the lab to the mainland.

But, oh, that darned anticipated billions in economic-development potential (and word is the whole operation may be — say Republican three times fast — privatized). Feel better?

We forgot to mention a few things, though.

1) The public hearing for SA has been set:

San Antonio, Texas – Thursday, August 7, 2008

12:30-4:30pm and 6-10pm

Radisson Hill Country Resort Ballroom

9800 Westover Hills Boulevard

San Antonio, TX 78251

210-509-9800

2) Construction cost estimates are lowest (well, second to the bottom) in SA, while outbreak risks are highest in financial terms: So, money is no object.

and

3) A strange caller patched through with me to ask I never again post her husband’s name on CurBlog. Considering I have mentioned few individuals in relation to N-BAF, it was a wee bit rattling… Then I rememberd THE LIST. Not a regular reader. I mean, that was AGES ago.

So, strange caller lady who hangs up on me after threatening to sue: If you would, please ID your husband from the following list of those who spoke in support of N-BAF at the last public hearing and I’ll give serious thought to your proposal.

As for the learning how to write part… well, old dogs, you know?

THE LIST:

1. Bryan Alsip

2. Elizabeth Ames Jones

3. Jeff Barker

4. John Bruno

5. Jay Campion

6. Shannon Cantrell

7. David Casteel

8. Ramiro Cavazos

9. Mike Charlton

10. Henry Cisneros

11. Peter Conner

12. Henry Cuellar (presented by Sean Caporaletti as Representative Cuellar got called away from the meeting)

13. Thomas Cropper

14. Ed Davis

15. Eugene Dawson, Jr.

16. Melissa de la Garza

17. Allen Dehnert

18. Cheryl DiCarlo

19. Guy Dietrich

20. Jim Dublin

21. York Duncan

22. Jay Fraser

23. Jane Fritz

24. Robert Gracy

25. Neal Guentzel

26. Fernando Guerra

27. Howard Ham

28. Cyndy Hanson

29. Brian Herman

30. Mario Hernandez

31. Bob Hillman

32. Jonathan Huhn

33. George Irving

34. Tony Jaso

35. Marcel Johnson

36. Jeffrey Kantor

37. Melina Kinsey

38. Karl Klose

39. Thomas Kowalski

40. Ron Lehman

41. Linda Loomis

42. Lawson Magruder, III

43. Margaret Martin

44. David Marquez

45. David Maserang

46. William Miller

47. Mary Pat Moyer

48. Jean Patterson

49. Marcel Perret-Gentil

50. David Prichard

51. James Reed

52. Rick Rhodes

53. Ciro Rodriguez

54. Kenneth Shine

55. Robert Siddall

56. Clay Smith

57. Gary Stamp

58. Ann Stevens

59. Gregor Weber

60. Bill Welsh

61. Jeff Wentworth

62. Phil Wilson

63. Nelson Wolff

64. Xhavit Zogaj

—

`And should you decide to sue (despite this friendly overture) you may want to consult this federal site on libel law before you cash out your chips for that sure-to-be-deflating initial consultation.`

This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2008.