Plum Island

Seven staff members from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center were taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center this morning for evaluation after they complained of eye irritation following “a routine autoclave run” at the facility, a DHS spokesperson said.

Can contamination on Plum Island, originally developed in the early 1950s by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps to use animal diseases to wage biological warfare, even be cleaned up?

Rep. Lee Zeldin has reintroduced legislation to prevent the federal government from selling Plum Island to the highest bidder, as is required by current law. The bipartisan Plum Island Preservation Act passed the House of Representatives in the last session of Congress but stalled in the Senate.

“It’s not as if we didn't try to be reasonable,” said Louise Harrison, a conservation biologist and Plum Island Coalition member. “We tried to be reasonable, we followed the administrative process and we were met with dismissive, cavalier behavior.”

A coalition of environmental groups charges the Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration with failing to adequately assess all alternatives and failing to adequately assess environmental impacts in violation of federal law.

A report released yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security analyzes alternatives for disposition of Plum Island by the agency, prompting a renewed call by Rep. Lee Zeldin for the passage of legislation to halt the federal government's efforts to market and sell the site.

A bill preventing the sale of Plum Island was unanimously approved by the House Homeland Security Committee yesterday, which means it will go to a vote on the House floor this year.

A new bill authored by Rep. Lee Zeldin that would put the brakes on the sale of Plum Island — at least temporarily — will be passed by the House Homeland Security Committee this week, the congressman announced at a press conference in Riverhead this morning.

Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today urged the Senate appropriations committee to block the sale of Plum Island to the highest bidder, urging that the island be retained by the federal government for preservation.