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Kansas to push for national biodefense plantLAWRENCE, Kan. (AP)--Kansas officials are coordinating a plan to bring a multimillion dollar National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to the state. State officials were expected to introduce a team of Kansas political leaders next month that will coordinate the effort, said Tom Thornton, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Bioscience Authority. The group likely will include former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and former Gov. John Carlin. Five months ago, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a list of 18 sites in 11 states that could compete for the facility, which would employ about 250 scientists in a 500,000-square-foot, $451-million plant that includes a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory, the highest level. The Kansas sites on the list are in Manhattan and in Leavenworth County near the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. The lab's mission would include improving efforts to fight foreign animal diseases and animal diseases that can infect humans. It would be operated by U.S. Homeland Security, Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments. Federal, state and local officials, including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS, and U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-KS, have already expressed support for the effort. Recently, Roberts' office brought U.S. Department of Agriculture officials to Kansas to tour the new Biosecurity Research Institute in Manhattan. "Competition across the country for this facility is intense," said Roberts, who noted that Kansas' qualifications include expertise in animal health sciences at Kansas State University and the numerous animal health companies in the Kansas City area. Bill Petrie, past president of Leavenworth County Development Corp., said landing the project would be an economic coup for Leavenworth County and the region. "We've got a lot at stake here. The spinoff that could come from this would be tremendous. This thing only comes along once in a lifetime, so I think as a county and as cities, we need to put our best foot forward to make sure we're unified," he said. B 7 1/29/07 1 Star WK Date: 1/25/07
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