It was the fall of 2007 when I first heard about the Plum Island Conspiracy Theory. Plum Island has been historically used for the Military (from the late 1700's to the mid 1900's). In 1954, the Department of Agriculture took over the island from the Military and established the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. In 2003, US Department of Homeland Security took over the island and the facility. Plum Island is not open to the public and can only be accessed by people that work for the United States Department of Homeland Security. To learn more about Plum Island including it's historic lighthouse, click here.
Plum Island is only accessible by a ferry. There are two ferry docks for getting to Plum Island. One is near Long Island and the other is Old Saybrook Connecticut. The official government position is that no animal pathogens have escaped in 50 years on the island. Conspiracy theorists beg to differ.
Is it merely a coincidence that what we now call Lyme Disease first appeared in the 1970's a few miles from the dock at Old Saybrook (which is near Lyme CT)? Is it merely coincidental that West Nile Virus as appeared near the dock off of Long Island NY? There are also websites that suggest that the lab is a Level 3 lab even though they do work on Level 4 diseases. Those same websites suggest that they are even secretly labeled Level 5. However, level 5 labs are not allowed on the Continental US. I wonder since technically it's an island off the Continental US if that is how they got away with the secret Level 4 & 5 work. Of course this is just MY opinion and it may not be accurate, but I'm just merely reitterating what I've read on other websites. And in my opinion, it makes sense.
I did find this on Plum Island on the EPA website. However, it appears to be just be discussing power reduction on the island. My thoughts are Plum Island are more of a "hum wonder if it could be ..." I do find curiosity in that Lyme Disease is studied there. The first cases were close to the dock that only governmental employees were (and are) allowed to use. What if one person on the island was contaminated 30 years ago and brought it onto the mainland. There are several books on the subject. One is a "fictional" novel called Poison Plum. I've read it and wow it's impressive. The other is called Lab 257. I have not had the opportunity to read this one yet, but the author was about 20 feet from this island taking pictures of a facility/island that is under such supposed security and restrictions. Yet, no one told him to leave.
The reason I was so interested in Plum Island in 2008 was that they were looking at 6 cities for a new biolab to replace Plum Island. One of the new potential sites was in my home county. Back in 2008, I wrote:
If the government did somehow release (accidentally or on purpose) Lyme Disease (or West Nile Virus or heck let's go further and say Anthrax), why would any of us want this in our own back yard? Theoretically, yes they would study diseases on animals and possibly find cures that would help us. But, what are the chances that it would release these deadly diseases on unsuspecting citizens. I don't know about you, but I don't think I would want "Butner Disease."
And furthermore, this article posted in the New York Times mentioned that a laptop disappeared from a biocontainment area of one of the labs in 2003. And to quote Mr. Glennon, "'If a laptop can walk out of a biocontainment area, how about a vial of pathogens?''
Here are some websites I used to gather what information I posted above
Plum Island Patricia Doyle
Plum Island Animal Disease Center Website
Animal Parasitic Diseases
Biolob 3 or 4 or 5?
Document on Plum Island
No Biolab
Poison Plum
Lab 257
Tikiwiki
CNN article
And go to this VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE
Kansas won the bid for the new biolab. Pray for the people in Kansas.
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