New York island featured in The Silence of the Lambs set to be sold as development row erupts over endangered species
- Congress closed Plum Island Animal Research Center in 2009
- Environmental groups concerned that endangered terns and seals will not be protected
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In The Silence of the Lambs FBI agent Clarice Starling tempts serial killer Hannibal Lecter with the chance to relocate to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. 'That's only a part of the island,' FBI agent Starling says. 'There's a very, very nice beach. Terns nest there.'
Plum Island's future has recently been caught in a heated debate. One federal agency is preparing a final report on the research center's proposed sale. At the same time, Long Island officials are considering new zoning laws that will prevent any major development of the 843-acre property if it's sold.
Still others want the government to scrap its plans to sell the mysterious island entirely.
Plum Island Animal Disease Center, pictured, is at the center of a heated development row. The Long Island, New York, facility may soon be sold, concerning environmentalists
Animal diseases have been studied and researched on the island, 100 miles east of New York City. It opened in 1954 on property that once housed a U.S. Army base from the Spanish-American War.
In 2009, Congress voted to close the aging laboratory. Proceeds from the sale are expected to defray the costs of moving operations to a new laboratory at Kansas State University.
Some lawmakers claim the sale of Plum Island will barely dent the estimated $1.1 billion cost for the new laboratory.
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Share'My concern is the unknown and uncertainty,' said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who has introduced legislation to stop the sale. Long Island U.S. Rep. Timothy Bishop has introduced similar legislation in the House.
'Our key goal is to preserve it as open space,' Blumenthal told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. 'Once we lose it, it will be lost forever.'
The proposed sale of Plum Island, pictured here, may soon involve the relocation of Long Island's Plum Island Animal Disease Center all the way to Kansas State University
The General Services Administration, which is charged with overseeing the sale, has held several public hearings in both New York and Connecticut and issued a final environmental impact statement in June. The GSA will soon issue a 'record of decision,' one of the final steps before the agency proceeds with a sale, a spokesman said.
The GSA's 500-page environmental report issued in June has been taken with some skepticism by environmentalists. Environmental groups on both sides of Long Island Sound have called for the property to simply be a nature preserve. They're concerned selling the island would jeopardize endangered wildlife, including terns and seals.
The EPA has also joined the dispute, saying the GSA's report 'does not provide a sufficiently detailed evaluation of the potential impacts of the sale of Plum Island,' according to regional administrator Judith Enck.
'EPA strongly believes that conservation options have the best potential to respect the rich ecological resources of Plum Island,' Enck said. 'The island provides important habitat for a number of species and we hope that it will be protected and preserved.'
This file photo shows people scouting for seals, resting on the rocky shore of Plum Island. The island, home to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, may soon be sold, leaving the seals' future uncertain
In 2007, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a report saying hundreds of tons of contaminated soil had been removed from landfills and other areas on the island. At the time, there appeared to be no existing environmental threats there.
However, it's the local residents of Southfold, located in eastern Long Island, that could play the most significant role in determining the island's future.
Town Supervisor Scott Russell said a proposal may soon pass that would bar most of the island from any significant development. The town plans to pass a law creating a 600-acre conservation zone.
The site where the existing government lab is located - a structure that resembles a modern-day college facility - would remain available should a research entity or university want to take it over.
Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (pictured), is offered a chance to live on Plum Island in the 1991 thriller
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