BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writers
As San Carlos’ fledgling biosciences district on the east side grows, residents say they are worried about certain types of medical research that can occur at the new labs and are asking the city to regulate the type of work that’s done there.
Meanwhile, bioscience developers are urging the city to keep the door open for various types of work — including the kind that some residents are concerned about.
These dynamics played out at the city’s Planning and Transportation Commission on Monday (Feb. 6), where the commissioners were asked to weigh in on an ordinance that would only allow labs with biosafety Levels 1 and 2 and ban levels 3 and 4. Different levels of research can be designated by their biosafety designation — Level 1 is the least hazardous to workers and Level 4 is the most.
The commission agreed to ban Level 4, as there are no labs in California that have such status and are generally government controlled. Diseases studied in Level 4 labs can include ebola.
But the commission was unsure what to do with Level 3 labs. According to Tufts University, a Level 3 lab can conduct research into botulism, anthrax and tuberculosis.
Residents of the city’s east side spoke to the commission expressing their concerns with having biosafety Level 3 labs close to their homes.
One resident who only identified himself as David said the lab could be built perfectly until a 7.5 earthquake hits or there is flooding and parts of the lab’s safety system no longer work and whatever the lab is working on could “escape if the building is damaged” in a disaster.
Others, such as Gary and Debbie Baldocchi, pointed out that elsewhere, such as in Cambridge, Mass., cities have biosafety committees ensure “public accountability for safety biological laboratory practices or manufacturing facilities,” according to Cambridge’s website. The committee works with the city’s public health department to enforce various city laws related to biomedical labs.
Debbie Baldocchi questioned the need for the city to allow Level 3 labs in town, as a presentation by city employees said those labs consist of less than 1% of labs in the state.
But representatives of the biomedical industry urged that the city keep the door open for perhaps specific Level 3 uses.
Ryan Guibara, a representative at MBC BioLabs, which own the properties at 930 Brittan Ave. and 733 Industrial Road, said getting rid of Level 3 uses would cause businesses to go to South San Francisco or Foster City instead of San Carlos.
Guibara pointed out that businesses that don’t conduct Level 3 research may back away from San Carlos if the ban goes into effect because they want the flexibility to do such work in the future.
The commission ultimately didn’t make a decision whether to recommend that the council ban Level 3 labs. The commissioners said they needed more information.
All five commissioners said they were more inclined to go for a conditional use permit, where Level 3 labs would be approved on a case-by-case basis, but ultimately needed more information.