WEBVTT - What's Really Happening on Plum Island?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbam here. For years, plenty of wild rumors and

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<v Speaker 1>fringe theories have swirled around an island the size of

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<v Speaker 1>New York Central Park that rests a mile and a

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<v Speaker 1>half about two and a half kilometers off of Long Island.

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<v Speaker 1>Plumb Island is home to a high security federal research

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<v Speaker 1>facility that Internet fueled urban legends have made into the

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<v Speaker 1>East Coast's equivalent of Area fifty one. Some have speculated

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<v Speaker 1>that animal human hybrids and biological warfare weapons are being

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<v Speaker 1>developed inside the Plumb Island Animal Disease Center, opened by

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S Department of Agriculture in the nineteen fifties

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<v Speaker 1>and under the control of the U. S. Department of

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<v Speaker 1>Homeland Security since two thousand three. John Verrico, a spokesman

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<v Speaker 1>for Homeland Securities Science and Technology Directorate, said, I've had

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<v Speaker 1>questions about Nazi scientists, alien technology, and genetically modified monsters.

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<v Speaker 1>But inside these security fences and bio containment area checkpoints

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<v Speaker 1>described in the unredacted parts of a two thousand seven

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<v Speaker 1>government report, government researchers work to stave off more tangible

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<v Speaker 1>threats foreign animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease

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<v Speaker 1>and African swine fever, which have the potential to wreak

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<v Speaker 1>havoc with the u S food supply if they ever

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<v Speaker 1>spread across the nation's farms. In the US, which hasn't

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<v Speaker 1>had an outbreak of foot and mouth disease since nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>twenty nine, an outbreak of the highly contagious affliction could

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<v Speaker 1>cause billions and billions of dollars in economic losses. Verka

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<v Speaker 1>says because infected farm animals would have to be culled

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<v Speaker 1>from the herds and destroyed, meat exports would come to

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<v Speaker 1>a halt until the disease was eradicated, and consumers might

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<v Speaker 1>face shortages of meat and dairy products. Farmers who produce

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<v Speaker 1>animal feed would be harmed as well. A two one

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<v Speaker 1>outbreak in the UK cost the nation the equivalent of

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<v Speaker 1>more than ten billion dollars. That long standing danger led

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<v Speaker 1>Congress to authorize the Department of Agriculture to create a

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<v Speaker 1>laboratory to fight animal diseases back in the nineteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 1>with one major condition. The facility had to be located

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<v Speaker 1>on an island to reduce the danger of pathogens or

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<v Speaker 1>infected animals. Escaping and spreading to farms. Plumb Island, the

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<v Speaker 1>site of the U. S Armies Fort Terry from eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy nine to night, fit that criteria. A nineteen seventy

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<v Speaker 1>one New York Times article described the facility as a

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<v Speaker 1>devil's island for the deadliest animal disease germs known to man,

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<v Speaker 1>and described the elaborate security measures. Those included round the

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<v Speaker 1>clock patrols along the island's perimeter intended to warn away

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<v Speaker 1>voters who might be attracted by the pristine beaches, buildings

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<v Speaker 1>with airlocks to keep bacteria and viruses from escaping, and

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<v Speaker 1>holding tanks to sterilize the waste water from mandatory showers

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<v Speaker 1>taken by staffers before leaving at the end of the

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<v Speaker 1>work day. In part because of the risk of a

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<v Speaker 1>terrorist attack on the facility, in two thousand three, it

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<v Speaker 1>was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, although agriculture

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<v Speaker 1>researchers continue to work there with additional measures such as

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<v Speaker 1>door sensors and alarms. And it's not for nothing. An

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<v Speaker 1>Al Qaeda operative who was arrested in two thousand eight

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<v Speaker 1>in Afghanistan had a handwritten list of various potential targets

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<v Speaker 1>in the US that in aluded Plumb Island. Despite all

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<v Speaker 1>the security measures, the Plumb Island Facility doesn't work in secrecy,

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<v Speaker 1>Verico said, we actually don't do any classified work at all.

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<v Speaker 1>Our scientists published reports on everything we do. Plumb Island

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<v Speaker 1>houses the only Foot and Mouth disease vaccine bank in

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<v Speaker 1>North America, which maintains and regularly updates a variety of

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<v Speaker 1>vaccines that have been developed to combat the more than

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<v Speaker 1>sixty different strains of the disease. Those vaccines could be

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<v Speaker 1>deployed in the event that the disease began to spread

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<v Speaker 1>in the US, Canada, or Mexico. Additionally, if an animal

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<v Speaker 1>becomes sick and develops suspicious lesions or other possible signs

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<v Speaker 1>of the disease, tissue samples can be sent to Plumb

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<v Speaker 1>Island for analysis, and veterinarians come to Plumb Island for training.

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<v Speaker 1>Work at the facility was instrumental in the conquest of

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<v Speaker 1>render pest, a deadly cattle disease that is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the only two diseases smallpox being the other that have

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<v Speaker 1>been totally eradicated. Although the Plumb Island Facility and its

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred person workforce have been an important part of

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's defense is against animal diseases for decades. It's

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<v Speaker 1>scheduled to shut down by approximately It gradually will be

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<v Speaker 1>replaced by the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility, at

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<v Speaker 1>one point to five billion dollar project under construction in Manhattan, Kansas.

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<v Speaker 1>That facility will be larger than Plum Island and be

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<v Speaker 1>able to conduct more studies simultaneously. It will also have

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<v Speaker 1>added layers of security to enable it to function as

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<v Speaker 1>a level for laboratory, meaning that it will be able

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<v Speaker 1>to study animal diseases that have the potential to be

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<v Speaker 1>transmitted to humans. It will be the first large animal

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<v Speaker 1>facility capable of such research advances, and security measures will

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<v Speaker 1>make it unnecessary for it to be located off shore.

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<v Speaker 1>What will happen to Plum Island after the Animal Disease

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<v Speaker 1>Center shuts down isn't yet clear. The U. S. General

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<v Speaker 1>Services Administration already has advertised the island in its buildings

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<v Speaker 1>for sale, in keeping with provision tucked into the two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand nine economic stimulus package that requires it to be

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<v Speaker 1>auctioned off to defray the construction cost of the Kansas

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<v Speaker 1>facility and or Homeland securities new headquarters complex, but local

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<v Speaker 1>environmentalists don't want to see Plum Island turned into a

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<v Speaker 1>waterfront housing development or golf resort. Because the island has

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<v Speaker 1>been off limits to development for so many years, much

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<v Speaker 1>of it has reverted to its natural state and has

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<v Speaker 1>become a refuge for birds and animals. A group of

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<v Speaker 1>environmental organizations in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, called

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<v Speaker 1>the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, advocates setting aside eight percent

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<v Speaker 1>of the island as a preserve in the winters. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>Plum Island is a haven for six hundred harbor and

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<v Speaker 1>gray seals who migrate from Canada to forge for food there.

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<v Speaker 1>It also provides habitat for aviate species such as the

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<v Speaker 1>piping plover and rosy it turn. After all, the security

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<v Speaker 1>measures are meant to keep humans off the island, and

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<v Speaker 1>keeping humans away is usually good news for animal populations.

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<v Speaker 1>Environmental groups filed a lawsuit in twixteen seeking to prevent

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<v Speaker 1>the government from going ahead with the sale on the

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<v Speaker 1>grounds that it hadn't complied with requirements of various federal

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<v Speaker 1>environmental laws. After the General Services Administration unsuccessfully sought to

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<v Speaker 1>get the suit dismissed. The agency announced in August that

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<v Speaker 1>it would hold off on the sale in order to

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<v Speaker 1>prepare for a new environmental impact statement to augment a

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<v Speaker 1>previous review that environmentalists had deemed inadequate. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Patrick J. Tiger and produced by Tyler Clang

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<v Speaker 1>for iHeartMedia and How Stuff Works. For bondness and lots

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<v Speaker 1>of other plum topics, visit our home planet, how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com.