National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

Threats to U.S. Food and Animal Agriculture

The United States’ food and animal agriculture supply is a highly integrated, open, global, and complex infrastructure. Increased imports of agricultural products and growing numbers of international travelers to and from the United States have had positive effects, but have also opened our food and agricultural supply to possible foreign animal disease outbreaks. The recent global H1N1 outbreak and other regional foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks have demonstrated the vulnerabilities present when there is a lack of available vaccines, countermeasures, and other rapid response capabilities to curb an outbreak. The food and agriculture industry is a significant contributor to U.S. economic prosperity; therefore, the loss of a significant food market would have dire economic and potentially human health consequences.

Current and previous Administrations have affirmed these threats and the need to prepare and respond through Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9: Defense of United States Agriculture and Food (January 2004) and the National Security Strategy for Countering Biological Threats (November 2009). In addition, the Congressional report, The Clock Is Ticking, pointed to the likelihood of biological threats and advised the United States to “strengthen our resilience by developing the capability to produce vaccines and therapeutics rapidly and inexpensively.” To supply the needed capabilities, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have the joint responsibility to protect our Nation’s animal agriculture and public health from these threats. DHS is leading these efforts through the construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas.

Back To Top

NBAF Mission and Research

NBAF in Manhattan, Kansas, will be a state-of-the-art biocontainment facility for the study of foreign animal, emerging and zoonotic (transmitted from animals to humans) diseases that threaten the U.S. animal agriculture and public health. NBAF will provide and strengthen our nation with critical capabilities to conduct research, develop vaccines and other countermeasures, and train veterinarians in preparedness and response against these diseases. For the past 50 years, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) has served our nation as the primary facility to conduct this research. However, PIADC is nearing the end of its life-cycle and needs to be replaced in order to meet U.S. research requirements and ensure the timely development of countermeasures in the event of an outbreak. NBAF meets that need and will serve as a replacement for the PIADC facility. Strategically, NBAF will boast of new and expanded capabilities, specifically, Biosafety Level (BSL) 4 containment for the study of high-consequence diseases affecting large livestock.

Specifically, NBAF will meet its mission by:

• Providing enhanced research capabilities to diagnose foreign animal, emerging and zoonotic diseases in large livestock
• Providing expanded vaccine and countermeasure development capabilities for large livestock
• Replacing and expanding research currently done at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) in New York, and continuing the partnership between the Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (ARS) and (APHIS)

NBAF rests on a strategic partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and USDA. These agencies set research priorities based on threats to animal agriculture, and conduct risk assessments, gap analysis and other necessary evaluations to protect our nation from threats to our animal agriculture and public health. Within the facility, The Department and USDA will continue the work of PIADC at NBAF to conduct research, diagnostics, vaccine development and testing, and training in preparedness and response for veterinary and animal agricultural specialists.

The following diseases would be studied at NBAF which would require BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratory capabilities:

• Nipah Virus
• Hendra Virus
• African Swine Fever
• Rift Valley Fever
• Japanese Encephalitis Virus
• Foot and Mouth Disease
• Classical Swine Fever
• Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia

Back To Top

Facility Information

The NBAF is being designed by the NBAF Design Partnership (Perkins & Will, FLAD & Associates, Merrick & Co., AEI Engineering Inc., CCRD Partners, and Affiliated Engineers, Inc.) an award-winning team of architects, engineers and planners. The NBAF will be a state of the art laboratory with critical research adjacencies for the Department of Homeland Security and USDA to carry out their unique and congruent missions.  NBAF will contain 500,000 gross square feet of facility space which includes BSL-2, 3, and 4 shared research space for the development of vaccines and other countermeasures. 10% of the space will be for BSL-4 research.

• Why Build a New Facility? No facility currently meets the requirements identified in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9.
• Facility Research & Staffing describes diseases that would potentially be studied at the NBAF and staffing plans.
• Facility Design & Construction describes facility space requirements and contracts awarded for design and construction services

Read more about the laboratory biosafety levels and definition of terms used in the NBAF discussion.

Back To Top

NBAF Site: Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan, Kansas was selected as the NBAF location after an extensive three-year site selection process that included a thorough risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, and security assessment. The Manhattan location puts the NBAF in proximity to research of NBAF-related missions in veterinary, agriculture, and bio-security research expertise, and resources. This location also puts NBAF in proximity to a major hub of the veterinary pharmaceutical industry. The NBAF will be built on a site on Kansas State University adjacent to the existing Biosecurity Research Institute.

More about the NBAF site location in Manhattan, Kansas

Back To Top

Site-Specific Risk Assessment

While such a facility is not without risks, the Department of Homeland Security is taking all of the appropriate measures to build a safe and secure facility and to mitigate any risks associated with NBAF and its research of foreign animal diseases.  To date, the Department has completed an Environmental Impact Statement including a Health and Safety Chapter (December 2008); Threat and Risk Assessment (December 2008); and a Site-Specific Threat and Risk Assessment (January 2010), which focused on intentional acts.  The Department has since begun to design NBAF and recognized the need for a Site-Specific Risk Assessment (SSRA) that includes biosafety and biosecurity risk mitigation. This site-specific risk assessment is a normal next step in planning for a high containment lab and will be a key input to inform the design and prepare the operating protocols to ensure a safe and secure facility.  A team of over 85 federal employees, contractors, and subject matter experts have contributed to the development of the SSRA either through review, advice or development.  The Department is exploring the risks by analyzing both accidental and intentional scenarios using plume modeling, epidemiological modeling, and developing an economic assessment.

The results of this modeling will assist in developing site-specific emergency response plans with city, State and regional officials in the highly unlikely event of an accidental or intentional release of live FMDV or other pathogens from NBAF.  The risk assessment will be completed and submitted to the National Academy of Sciences in June, after which the Academy will have 4 months to review it and provide a final letter report in October.  The final risk assessment and NAS letter report will go to Congress in November. Additionally, the Department will ensure that the public is fully aware of the results of the risk assessment and steps the Department is taking to further mitigate the identified risks. To further mitigate risks, we are also currently laying the groundwork for Emergency Response Plans, Select Agent Plans, and transition plans from Plum Island to NBAF.  

Back To Top

NBAF Project Timeline and Transition from Plum Island

The timeline for designing, constructing, and operating the NBAF is as follows:

Once construction of NBAF is completed – an estimated five-year project – the current mission activities at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) will begin to transition to the new facility. The transition process is expected to take approximately two years.

Back To Top

Program Events

The NBAF program will provide information at the following events:

For more information on these events, please contact nbafprogrammanager@dhs.gov.

Back To Top

Project Documentation

The Department of Homeland Security is committed to open communication and providing stakeholders with access to pertinent information and relevant documentation regarding the planning, design, construction, and operation of the NBAF.

• Sites Evaluated in Environmental Impact Statement
• Environmental Impact Statement and Supporting Documents
• Department Response to May 2009 GAO Report (PDF, 30 pages - 347 KB)
• NBAF Site-Specific Risk Assessment

Back To Top

Recent Project Updates

In September 2009, the Department of Homeland Security and USDA moved another step closer towards establishing NBAF by awarding a contract to an award winning construction management company, McCarthy/Mortenson, Joint Venture, as the construction firm to complete the preconstruction phase services and construction phase services required for successful completion of the project. McCarthy/Mortenson was awarded the contract through a competitive process based upon their expertise in constructing biocontainment labs. As of June 2010, facility design is at 35% and is proceeding forward. In September 2010, the Department plans to take ownership of the 46 acres of land to construct NBAF.

Prior to the start of construction for NBAF, the Department will complete the Site-Specific Biosafety and Biosecurity Mitigation Risk Assessment.  The SSRA is on schedule to be completed in June 2010, after which it will be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences, and then submitted to Congress in November 2010.  Following the completion and acceptance of the risk assessment, groundbreaking and construction of the Central Utility Plant (the infrastructure that will supply power to the NBAF laboratory) will commence in February 2011. Construction of the laboratory is scheduled for fiscal year 2012 and will be completed in fiscal year 2016.  Transition from Plum Island will begin in 2016 and NBAF will be fully operational in FY 2018.

Back To Top