CDC lab's backup power fails during storm

[Guest guest]

This is the same building that had a roof fire during construction

(bldg was almost ready to open).

CDC lab's backup power fails during storm

No danger to workers, official says

By ALISON YOUNG

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, GA*

Published on: 07/07/07

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/07/06/0707m

eshcdclab.html

A lightning strike knocked out power for about an hour last month at

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new $214 million

infectious disease building — including the agency's six high-tech

labs that will soon handle the world's most deadly germs. Backup

power did not come on.

The suite of Biosafety Level 4 labs, designed to contain the likes

of Ebola and avian influenza, was unoccupied during the June 15

outage. While the incident also affected the labs' air pressure

safety system, CDC officials on Friday emphasized that even if the

labs had been in use, the agency's staff and the public would never

have been in any danger because of the building's many containment

systems.

" In no way do we believe this incident in any way would have caused

any risk to the public, " said Dr. Casey Chosewood, CDC's health and

safety director.

The suite of six BSL-4 labs is the crown jewel of CDC's $1.5 billion

construction plan to overhaul the agency's aging Atlanta facilities.

These maximum containment labs are part of the 368,000-square-foot

Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory on the agency's Clifton Road

campus.

Construction on the building, which began in 2001, was completed in

Sept. 2005 and staff started moving in. While the BSL-4 labs remain

unoccupied, about 500 CDC scientists and staff have completely moved

into all parts of the building, including labs for less dangerous

pathogens, since January 2006, CDC officials said.

Last month's power outage revealed an issue with how the new

building handles power surges and has engineers considering whether

to route a special backup power supply to the BSL-4 labs, said

Chandler, who is in charge of building and facilities at CDC.

Around 6:30 p.m. on June 15 a lightning strike during a thunderstorm

caused a power surge, tripping breakers inside the building as it

was designed to do, Chandler said. Alarms went off and those still

in the building that Friday evening evacuated. But when the breakers

tripped, the system didn't alert the CDC's new emergency generators

that there was a power gap, he said. When the breakers were reset,

normal power was restored to the building. It took about an hour, he

said.

CDC is now looking to change the sensitivity of the breakers, he

said.

During the power outage, the unoccupied BSL-4 labs lost their

negative air pressure, one of the safety features designed to keep

germs in by having air constantly flow only into the lab, then out

through specially designed HEPA filters. Chosewood said that the

labs went into a neutral air-pressure situation, with no air flowing

in any direction.

Even if the labs had been operational, he said, scientists working

in their protective suits would still have had plenty of compressed

oxygen, the doors and decontamination systems still would have

functioned and emergency lights would have worked to allow them to

safely leave the labs. The pathogens they would have been working

with would have been shut into special lab biosafety cabinets in

each work area and all the walls, doors and seals would have kept

the units contained, he said.

" There are multiple systems in place ... that could withstand a

prolonged power outage, " Chosewood said.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has requested records relating to

the power outage incident and the safety of the new BSL-4 labs under

the federal Freedom of Information Act. The CDC has denied the

newspaper's request for expedited release of the information

saying " there is no urgency to inform the public ... "

Chosewood and other CDC officials said there is nothing unusual

about the BSL-4 labs still being unoccupied nearly two years after

the building opened.

Chosewood compared the process of commissioning the BSL-4 labs to " a

very elaborate punch list. "

" We look at any possible way things could go wrong, " Chosewood said,

running tests to see how the building responds under normal

circumstances and when certain systems fail. Decontamination systems

are tested for effectiveness, computer hardware and software are

tested, and staff and emergency responders are trained on all the

lab's operations. " It's a very long, standardized checklist, " he

said.

CDC officials said it's not unusual for it to take months or years

for such complex labs with extensive air-handling, containment,

security, computer and other systems to be put on line. And they

said there have been no unusual problems encountered with the new

BSL-4 labs.

" In the scheme of commissioning, I don't think any of us thought

this would be a fast process, " Chosewood said.

" We put health and safety above any timeline, above any other

concern, " Chosewood said. He noted the CDC has two existing BSL-4

labs that have been in use for years. " We have operational labs.

There's no pressure to get these done, " he said.