Feds: Science paper a terrorist's road map
Health agency seeks to halt scholarly publication
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Posted: 9:33 AM EDT (1333 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/06/milk.terror/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government has asked the National Academy of
Sciences not to publish a research paper that feds describe as a "road map
for terrorists" on how to contaminate the nation's milk supply.
The research paper on biological terrorism, by Stanford University professor
Lawrence M. Wein and graduate student Yifan Liu, provides details on how
terrorists might attack the milk supply and offers suggestions on how to
safeguard it.
The paper appeared briefly May 30 on a password-protected area of the
National Academy of Science's Web site.
Journalists use that area of the Web site to get advance copies of articles
slated for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
People who downloaded the Wein-Liu paper called the Food and Drug
Administration for comment, and the FDA notified the Department of Health
and Human Services, which asked the academy to stop the article's
publication.
The paper "is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the
interests of the United States," HHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Simonson
wrote in a letter to the science academy chief Dr. Bruce Alberts.
The paper gives "very detailed information on vulnerability nodes" in the
milk supply chain and "includes ... very precise information on the dosage
of botulinum toxin needed to contaminate the milk supply to kill or injure
large numbers of people," Simonson wrote.
"It seems clear on its face that publication of this manuscript could have
very serious public health and national security consequences."
Simonson wrote that acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford was joining
him in the request to halt publication.
Officials of HHS and the academy said they are to meet Tuesday to discuss
the article.
"The academy has been dealing with the issue of scientific openness versus
national security since 9/11," said academy spokesman Bill Kearney.
"The academy [members] are strong advocates of scientific openness while
ensuring that nothing is done to aid terrorists."
Kearney said the NAS routinely vets papers for security concerns before
publishing them and had vetted the Wein-Liu paper.
After HHS raised concerns, the NAS decided to "take a step back and make
sure that we weren't putting out anything that we're uncomfortable with," he
said.
NAS is a private, nonprofit society of scientists and engineers chartered by
Congress to advise the government on science and technology.
HHS spokesman Marc Wolfson said Wein showed a draft of his paper last fall
to HHS staffers, who expressed concern about the level of detail in the
paper.
"He, at that time, indicated that he was going to work it over a bit and
he'd be back to us, back to HHS, if and when he submitted it for
publication. That was the last we ... heard from him," Wolfson said.
Wein told CNN he would withhold comment until after the HHS and NAS meeting.
A week ago, The New York Times published an op-ed article by Wein outlining
a possible attack scenario.
Under the most likely scenario, he wrote, a terrorist would buy toxin from
an overseas black market laboratory, fill a one gallon jug with a sludgy
substance containing a few grams of botulin, and pour it into an unlocked
milk tank, or into a milk truck at a truck stop.
He wrote that the FDA guidelines for locking milk tanks should be made
mandatory, and said the dairy industry should improve pasteurization to
eliminate toxins.
Wolfson said he cannot recall another instance in which HHS has asked a
scientific publication to withhold an article on national security grounds.
You are a subscribed member of the infowarrior list. Visit
www.infowarrior.org for list information or to unsubscribe. This message
may be redistributed freely in its entirety. Any and all copyrights
appearing in list messages are maintained by their respective owners.
