| Opponents of bio lab befuddled by grant
BY WILLIAM F. WEST : The [Henderson] Daily Dispatch - The Herald-Sun
Jul 16, 2008
BUTNER -- A staunch opponent of the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is befuddled by the Golden LEAF Foundation awarding more than $262,000 to the statewide pro-NBAF group seeking to get the germ-fighting laboratory located at Butner.
"I think, unfortunately, Golden LEAF has been a victim of the same snow job that the consortium has been practicing as it went to speak to elected officials at the outset," Kathryn Spann argued Tuesday.
The consortium maintains the money will be used for an informational campaign, which will include a public relations firm.
Spann, an attorney, is on the steering committee of the Granville Non-Violent Action Team (GNAT), which argues the NBAF would pose environmental and health hazards.
And Spann is disputing state data about the NBAF's economic impact.
The nonprofit Golden LEAF Foundation is based in Rocky Mount. It was created in 1999 to receive half the funds coming to North Carolina from the tobacco master settlement agreement that resulted from lawsuits against cigarette manufacturers over smoking-related diseases.
The foundation's purpose is help make the transition from a tobacco-dependent economy through grants and investments that will positively affect the long-term advancement of the Tar Heel State.
Spann said she hopes she and fellow GNAT backers can persuade Golden LEAF to reconsider before dispersing the funds to the pro-NBAF group of private and public experts.
At the same time, Spann said she sees a disconnect between the foundation's mission and areas of the state adversely impacted by the decline of tobacco farming.
"Why they would seek to bring another public health nightmare to North Carolina with those funds is certainly baffling," she said.
And Spann, commenting on the consortium's latest action, added that, "I'm somewhat baffled that it takes them that much money to do what we do with none."
"Money does not equal merit in the message, which is perhaps why this hasn't been exactly a slam dunk for them," she said.
Golden Leaf Foundation President Valeria Lee said in an e-mail that the foundation's board met via conference call and approved the funding.
Lee attached a copy of the board's decision, which said $262,248 was approved for the N.C. Biotechnology Center "for the purpose of funding an impartial and factual community education program" relating to the NBAF.
The attachment said the grant is for seven months, but it did not list who made the motion for the grant, who seconded and which way individual board members voted.
Lee was asked in an e-mail if she was aware that the Granville County Commissioners had withdrawn support for the project, that the municipal board majorities in Stem and Creedmoor had declined to provide their support and that Butner's municipal board is neutral.
The Raleigh City Council has unanimously refused to support having the lab in Granville County.
"Concerns about the project that are raised in your e-mail were discussed on the call," Lee replied.
Ken Tindall, senior vice president for science and business development at the Biotechnology Center, said later in the day that the money would be used for more of what the consortium had already been doing.
That is, having consortium representatives meet with news editors and reporters, taking out advertisements in local and area newspapers and having speakers available to talk to business and civic groups.
"It's not about trying to deal with the opposition," Tindall contended. "It's about trying to make sure that accurate information and educational information is out there."
Tindall, when asked whether some may view the latest action as last-gasp and too late in the process, said, "Some may say that."
Published reports said the majority of the money -- more than $107,000 -- will go to French West Vaughan, which is based in Raleigh and bills itself the Southeast's largest independent public relations firm.
Also, according to those reports:
-- Just over $70,000 will compensate for time and travel by staff of the non-profit N.C. Association for Biomedical Research.
-- At least $48,000 will be spent for newspaper ads, at least $15,000 will be spent for designing the consortium's Web site and at least $15,000 will be spent on informational postcards.
-- At least $4,500 will be paid to a news clipping service, while at least $2,100 will compensate the N.C. Biotechnology Center staff for travel.
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NBAF at a glance
Butner remains a finalist for the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility along with Athens, Ga., San Antonio, Texas, Manhattan, Kan., and a town near Jackson, Miss.
The NBAF, which is expected to cost at least $450 million, would replace an outdated facility at Plum Island, N.Y. which remains on the NABF list as an alternate site.
The Department of Homeland Security last month released a thick draft environmental impact statement to show the potential effects of the NABF on the air, land and water of each possible site. Locally, DHS will have a hearing on the draft statement on July 29 at Butner-Stem Middle School.
A final environmental impact statement is expected in October, with the final decision on a site to follow in November. Plans call for the NBAF to be ready in 2013 or 2014, although another option is to not build the lab at all.
© 2008 by The Durham Herald Company. All rights reserved.
Big dough goes to NBAF PR
16 JUL 2008 • by Lisa Sorg - Independent Weekly
In the few months before the Department of Homeland Security announces where it will build a controversial, $450 million federal disease research lab, proponents in the five contending states, including North Carolina, are trying to outspend, outbid and out-promise the others in hopes of landing the project.
The financial stakes got higher Tuesday, when the N.C. Consortium, an influential group of biotech companies, agribusiness interests, universities and government agencies, received more than a quarter-million dollars in public funds to pay for an "educational" campaign touting their views about siting the National Agro and Bio Defense Facility in Butner.
The Golden LEAF Foundation board awarded the $262,248 grant to the consortium, the first time in the foundation's nine-year history that its funds have been allocated to a public relations campaign, according to a review of grantees listed on the foundation Web site.
Although the board awarded the grant with the stipulation that the disseminated information be "impartial and factual," by their nature, PR campaigns are neither. It is also unclear who would judge the impartiality and veracity of the campaign.
"I fear that once Golden LEAF has funded a public relations campaign, other groups will be able to apply and do the same," said Bill McKellar of the Granville Nonviolent Action Team, which opposes the lab on environmental, safety and economic grounds. "It's setting a precedent."
Golden LEAF was created in 1999 to collect money from the state's tobacco settlement and distribute it through grants and investments that boost North Carolina's long-term economic health, particularly in rural communities hurt by the downturn in tobacco farming.
"It looks like Golden LEAF is taking more liberties with its original mission, which is to promote economic development for all of North Carolina, particularly rural counties," said David Mills, executive director of the Common Sense Foundation, a progressive policy organization based in Durham. "It's particularly outrageous when all kinds of projects all over the state are crying out for this funding."
Foundation President Valeria Lee said the grant complies with Golden Leaf's mission in that one of the criteria for economic catalyst grants is examining new technologies and applications for agriculture. "We're going to learn something, no matter where the lab is located, about what our government is doing in regards to research, " she said
Lee acknowledged that the decision to award the grant sets a precedent for other groups to make similar requests. "At that time, the board will look at the pros and cons and the reasonableness of the request," she said, adding that she does not believe this grant is funding a public relations campaign. She called it "community education."
That "education" will come at the price of more than $100,000 to be paid to public relations firm French West Vaughan, which has offices in Raleigh, New York City and Tampa. Its client list includes hundreds of private companies, nonprofits and government associations including Pfizer, N.C. State University and the embattled Roanoke Rapids Theater.
French West Vaughan's Web site notes that Pfizer hired the firm to influence "the mindset and behavior of politically influential individuals and groups around the state. FWV developed a three-pronged approach to shaping opinions."
However, Ken Tindall, senior vice president of science and business development at the N.C. Biotechnology Center, a consortium member, addressed skepticism about the intent of the campaign: "It is to provide the public with accurate information and education, not to sway public opinion."
The NBAF will study some of the world's most contagious and dangerous diseases, including several that are transmissible from animals to humans. Proponents contend it will be an economic boon to North Carolina. They also claim it will be safe, but recent congressional testimony and reports by government investigators have cast serious doubts on those assertions, particularly in regards to risks of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
Despite the powerful interests behind the NBAF, concerns have spoken louder than money. GNAT has used the $1,000 it has collected from donations to print flyers, make T-shirts and set up an information booth at the Festival for the Eno this month. While done on the cheap, GNAT's grassroots tactics could be eroding community acceptance for the NBAF—a crucial component in Homeland Security's decision on locating the lab.
With this in mind, the timing of the public relations campaign is curious. The final public comment period ends in late August, yet the campaign is scheduled to last through January 2009, by which time Homeland Security is expected to have announced the site. This raises questions of whether the politically powerful may have Homeland Security's ear—or can hone the message—even after the public can no longer comment on the proposal.
Consortium member Dave Green of the N.C. State University College of Veterinary Medicine said information would be helpful, even as Homeland Security mulls its decision.
"There might be more information available about foot-and-mouth disease or the GAO reports," he said. "Having information available to citizens, organizations, leaders will be useful."
Consortium leaders allege NBAF opponents have been spreading misinformation about the project, which the PR campaign is designed to correct. However, McKellar notes that GNAT's objections are based on Government Accountability Office reports and congressional testimony, both of which were highly critical of Homeland Security and the NBAF, particularly in regards to safety risks.
The consortium's Web site, ncc-nbaf.org, already lists what it considers to be misconceptions and inaccuracies about the NBAF, including rumors that it would be a bioweapons lab, and the counterarguments.
Asked if the public information campaign would include GAO reports critical of NBAF, Tindall said it would, adding that those documents are available on the consortium Web site. However, those reports were not available on the site at press time.
With the grant money, the consortium will disseminate its message through the media and direct mail: $48,000 for newspaper ads, $15,000 to redesign the consortium's Web site, $15,000 for "informational postcards" to be sent to residents, and $4,500 for a news clipping service. About $72,000 would pay for time and travel for staff of the N.C. Association for Biomedical Research, a nonprofit that last year reported net assets of more than $300,000, according to federal tax records, and the N.C. Biotechnology Center, a state-funded enterprise, which had a $17.6 million budget in 2007.
"They're using the money to get out of a tight spot politically and financially," McKellar said. "It's really sad."
A public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be held Tuesday, July 29, at Butner-Stem Middle School, 501 E. D St. in Butner. There are two sessions: 12:30-4:30 p.m. and 6-10 p.m. Look for a story in next week's Indy.
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