DHS's new BioLab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is hobbled by a series of flaws and glitches which have prevented researchers from moving into the facility years after it had been dedicated; the most serious problem was the placement of valves that allow access to HEPA filters in biosafety level 3 lab; the filters must be decontaminated or replaced every few years, but the valves to let workers into the air ducts were too far from the filters
Researchers continue waiting to move into the new DHS lab at Fort Detrick, years after the building was dedicated, after an endurance test uncovered flaws in the building (see “NRC Panel Has “High Confidence” in Fort Detrick BioLab’s Security Procedures,” 9 March 2010 HSNW ).