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The Center for Disease Control has declined to confirm or deny allegations that the United States government is stockpiling biological and/or chemical weapons at Sierra Army Depot, a military base in Northern California .
According to Ron Davenport , who was a biomedical engineer who worked at the medical clinic at Sierra Army depot in the seventies, the base at one time contained a stockpile of nuclear weapons. Davenport states that much of the base is actually underground. This reporter has obtained the testimony of a civilian contractor with a security clearance who has stated that the nukes have been replaced by large vats of liquid.
In an interview this week with Lori Bane, Associate Director for Police with the CDC Division of Select Agents and Toxins and Von Roebuck, CDC Public Affairs officer, the two also declined to confirm or deny the existence of a number of biological safety labs level 4. The level 4 labs, called BSL-4.s, handle the most dangerous germs known to man, including Ebola , Marburg and Argentine hemorrhagic virus.
The CDC is charged with the responsibility of registering labs which work with "select agents" and toxins. The labs range from Levels 1 to 4, and are designated in terms of their containment capacity. The 3's and 4's handle the really nasty bugs, some of which have no known treatment or cure and pose a grave threat to human life.
Bane and Roebuck maintain that there are only six operational BSL-4's within the borders of the United States. However, a number of other BSL-4's appear to be now operational. Biosecurity.org lists eleven: http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org/website/resources/publications/2007_orig-articles/2007-04-04-highcontainmentbioresearchlabtable1.html . The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has counted thirteen, with some questions as to whether all the labs are operational at this point in time. The University of North Carolina has counted fifteen: http://cphp.sph.unc.edu/focus/vol5/issue1/5-1BiosafetyLevels. .
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When this reporter did a "roll call," running down the entire FAS list, Bane began to fidget. Asked if there were an operational BSL-4 in Galveston, Texas , she responded that she "didn't feel comfortable confirming or denying" if that facility has a registered BSL-4 or not.
She responded in a similar manner to questions as to whether there was an operational BSL-4 in Montana. "Based on what I see on the internet there may be," she volunteered. The CDC is posited with the responsibility of registering the BSL-4's and when asked why she was relying on internet searches to determine this, she stated that she was answering in this manner "for security reasons." However, the CDC's own website contains multiple references to the Montana Lab, for example: http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/3/373.htm
The granddaddy of all BSL-4's was first established at Fort Detrick in 1969. This reporter has found indications of two other BSL-4's at Detrick. Bane stated she was unable to comment on this. Bane and Roebuck also attempted to convince this reporter that there is only one BSL-4 at the CDC. However, this reporter found indications that a second one may have gone online recently.
Following 911, and particularly following the anthrax letters which came fast on the heels of the Twin Towers attacks, these" biological safety" labs started to proliferate as silently and quickly as mushrooms. At this point in time, Congress is allocating over one billion dollars a year to fund biological defense research. But is it really defensive research going on in these labs?
According to the Sunshine Project , an international non-profit working against the hostile use of biotechnology, the institutional safeguards put into place to ensure that these labs are doing the appropriate kinds of research are almost nonfunctional. Edward Hammond , who was the director of the Sunshine Project , cited instance after instance where the oversight committees for these research facilities had never even convened, let alone reviewed the nature of the research ongoing in these facilities. He also found where the mandated research was not taking place and other, non- authorized research was occurring instead.
The Pentagon did not respond to queries concerning the possibility of BSL-4's on two military bases, Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah and Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. This reporter located two architectural firms which claimed that they had been involved in building BSL-4s at these bases: http://www.linkedin.com/in/waynewalters ; http://www.ninowconsulting.com/
The potential presence of these weapons at Sierra Army Depot augurs the likelihood that these weapons are being stockpiled on other bases, as well. The Soldier and Biological Chemical Command of the U.S. military lists installations at these facilities:
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Anniston Chemical Activity
Blue Grass Chemical Activity
