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Animal Testing Laboratory In Frederick Scrapped

By: Sharon Rae // March 21, 2012
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Plans for a high-security animal laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland are being scrapped. The lab would have been used for public and private research on some of the world's deadliest pathogens.

Officials at Fort Detrick now say the demand for such a facility is less than anticipated. They say the Army will expand its test and evaluation capabilities at existing facilities instead.

The Army announced plans for the $584 million dollar project in August 2010. Last year, the National Academy of Sciences said it found flaws in the military's risk assessment for the facility.

The Army says dropping the project will save taxpayers a billion dollars over the next 10 years.

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