Federal review delays opening of BU lab

The revised NIH schedule also appears to acknowledge blistering criticism of the agency's conclusion that the lab posed no danger to the surrounding neighborhood. In November, an independent panel of scientists concluded that the federal review "was not sound and credible" and failed to adequately address the consequences of highly lethal germs escaping from the lab.

At that time, the director of the NIH, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, pledged to personally review the critical report from the National Research Council.

An NIH spokesman last night declined to comment on this week's court filing, other than to confirm April 30, 2009, as the latest date on which its final environmental assessment will be completed.

But even that report will not provide the final say on the project, which is under construction on Albany Street and already more than 70 percent complete. Legal cases brought by lab opponents have yet to be resolved.

In the federal lawsuit, US District Judge Patti B. Saris had refused to immediately block construction of the project. But Saris said she would retain oversight of the Biosafety Level-4 lab, leaving open the possibility that she could prevent research with the deadliest germs, including Ebola, plague, and Marburg virus.

The new court documents were filed to address Saris' questions about the status of the environmental review.

Once the federal review is completed, representatives of BU, the NIH, and the lab opponents must appear before Saris again, adding further time to the lab's opening date.

"The way I read this is they can't open the BSL-4 piece of this conceivably before the end of 2009 or more likely the beginning of 2010, just the way the world works and because nobody can tell the judge when to decide," said Eloise Lawrence, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, which sued to stop the lab. "She could also decide at that point it will never open."