Plum Island is a federally owned 840-acre island off the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. It is about 1.5 miles from Orient Point, New York (see fig. 1), and about 12 miles from New London, Connecticut. Access to Plum Island is by a ferry service operated by a contractor that transports employees from Orient Point and Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The U.S. Army used Plum Island during World War II as a coastal defense artillery installation until it was declared surplus property in 1948. In 1952, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps constructed a biological research laboratory, but it was never used. Then, in response to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Canada, the Congress transferred all of Plum Island to USDA in 1954 for the purpose of researching and diagnosing animal diseases from other countries, including foot-and-mouth disease, which has not been seen in the United States since 1929. Foot-and-mouth disease is the most feared foreign animal disease because it is highly contagious and can have serious effects on the economy. Slaughtering susceptible animals and quarantining both animals and humans in affected areas helps limit the spread of the disease, but it can, nevertheless, have devastating economic consequences, as demonstrated during the 2001 outbreak in the United Kingdom. By the time the disease was eradicated, about 8 months later, the United Kingdom had slaughtered over 4 million animals and sustained losses of over $5 billion in the food and agricultural industries, as well as comparable losses in tourism. Many other types of animal diseases are also studied at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, such as classical swine fever; rinderpest; and a variety of pox viruses, including goat, camel, and deer pox. Some of the diseases are caused by pathogens that are zoonotic—that is, they can infect, and possibly cause death, in both animals and humans. Zoonotic pathogens maintained at Plum Island Animal Disease Center include West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, and vesicular stomatitis. Because of the importance of the livestock industry to the U.S. agricultural sector and economy, protecting livestock from these diseases is an important responsibility. To prevent pathogens from escaping the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and infecting livestock, wildlife, or humans, all research is conducted within a specially designed and sealed biocontainment area within the research facility that adheres to specific safety measures.For example, the biocontainment area has air seals on its doors and operates with negative air pressure so that air passes through a special filter system before leaving the facility. In addition, employees and visitors must change into protective clothing before entering the biocontainment area and shower when going between rooms containing different animal diseases and before leaving the biocontainment area. USDA’s procedures require all people and material leaving the biocontainment area to be decontaminated. The Plum Island Animal Disease Center’s biocontainment area totals approximately 190,000 square feet, and it is unusual because it houses a laboratory facility with 40 rooms for large animals. The three-level laboratory also contains the machinery, such as the air filtration system, necessary for the biocontainment area to function, and the pathogen repository. Individuals entering the biocontainment area have access to all three floors. In contrast, biocontainment areas of other laboratories usually consist of a series of smaller rooms, housing smaller laboratory animals, making it easier to control access to the pathogens. As a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Plum Island Animal Disease Center is now required to abide by new laws and regulations that were generated to help reduce the possibility of bioterrorism. These laws and regulations limit access to pathogens to only approved individuals— those whom USDA has identified as having a legitimate need to handle agents or toxins and whose names and identifying information have been submitted to and approved by the U.S. Attorney General. Specifically, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 prohibits restricted people—such as criminals or those individuals from countries that the Department of State has declared to be state sponsors of terrorism—from shipping, receiving, transporting, or possessing certain dangerous pathogens. In addition, the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002 requires that USDA develop an inventory of potentially dangerous pathogens. Furthermore, individuals who possess or use pathogens must have background checks and must be registered with the U.S. Attorney General. Implementing this law are regulations that became effective on February 11, 2003, which state that laboratories must be in compliance with the regulations by November 12, 2003. USDA also requires employees to have favorably adjudicated background investigations before working unescorted in the biocontainment area. When USDA contracted with Sandia in October 2001, Sandia evaluated the effectiveness of security at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and four other USDA laboratories. Using a risk management approach, USDA first identified generic lists of assets, risks, and threats for all five laboratories. Sandia then used USDA’s generic threat definitions to assess the security and vulnerabilities at each laboratory. Sandia officials found that Plum Island’s existing security system was inadequate for protecting against the generic threats that USDA had selected and that it required significant improvement. Sandia officials also found that the biocontainment building was not designed to be a highly secure facility. USDA and Sandia agreed, however, that modifying the facility to withstand an assault would be cost- prohibitive and that, because pathogens occur naturally and are available at other laboratories throughout the world, the risk that a terrorist would try to steal them from Plum Island was not perceived as significant (and their perception has not changed). Consequently, Sandia recommended a limited physical security system designed to deter and detect a security breach and, with assistance from local law enforcement, respond to incidents exceeding the capability of the guard force on the island. DHS assumed formal administration of Plum Island from USDA on June 1, 2003, as provided by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. During a transition period that will last until October 1, 2003, DHS will review USDA’s policies and procedures and determine how best to administer the functions of Plum Island. Until the transition is complete, DHS will administer the facility under the same policies and regulations established by USDA. Ultimately, the two agencies will work together to address national biodefense issues and carry out the mission of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. While DHS is now formally responsible for security, scientists and support staff of two USDA agencies, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), will continue to implement the Plum Island Animal Disease Center’s research and diagnostic mission. ARS scientists at Plum Island are responsible for research on foreign livestock diseases, while APHIS scientists are responsible for diagnosing livestock diseases. APHIS conducts diagnostic training sessions several times a year to give veterinary health professionals the opportunity to study the clinical signs of animal diseases found in other countries, such as foot-and-mouth disease. According to USDA, scientists from other countries are an integral part of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center’s workforce because they are well qualified and well situated to study the diseases researched there, many of which are endemic to their own countries. These scientists are sponsored by USDA and obtain visas that permit them to work for the department. DHS currently uses USDA’s independent contractor to carry out operations and maintenance functions for Plum Island. The services under the contract include, among other activities, operating the ferries, providing security and emergency fire and medical services, providing buildings and grounds services, meeting utility requirements, and performing custodial functions. On August 13, 2002, 71 of these employees went on strike. The contractor at that time, LB&B Associates, was responsible for handling the strike. On January 6, 2003, LB&B Associates’ contract expired. USDA had initially awarded that contract under a small business program when LB&B Associates still qualified as one. Since that initial award, LB&B Associates had grown so that it no longer was eligible to compete for contracts set aside for small businesses. As a result, USDA awarded the new contract to North Fork Services, a joint venture between LB&B Associates and Olgoonik Logistics LLC, a small minority company of Anchorage, Alaska. Under this arrangement, the more experienced LB&B Associates serves as a mentor to North Fork Services, and most of the employees who worked for LB&B Associates continue to work for North Fork Services. DHS officials told us that they would not renew the contract with North Fork Services. DHS stated that the current terms and scope of the contract are insufficient to operate the facility in accordance with its view of the standards and mission of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Before the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, like many other federal laboratories, was less conscious of security and focused primarily on the safety of its programs and operations. Since then, USDA intensified its focus on security and has taken strides in developing and installing a security system. However, Plum Island remains vulnerable to security breaches because its security arrangements are incomplete and limited. Security at Plum Island has improved since the fall of 2001. USDA hired a physical security specialist to oversee its efforts to improve security, including the implementation of Sandia’s recommendations, and to provide direction for the security measures being taken for Plum Island.