bioLABS

Longfellow plans no restrictions on BSL levels to provide the most financial options for present and future tenants

•  BSL3 high containment labs can work with federal select agents such as Anthrax, Plague (Yersinia pestis), and SARS

• Both the city of San Carlos and Downtown Redwood City have banned their use

Link to Wikipedia article

Where living organisms are kept as test subjects. Their proximity to the Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve is concerning

• Animals - rats, mice, rabbits, dogs, primates

• Plants - rice, tobacco, algae, moss 

• Insects - fruit flies, mosquitoes, crickets, nematodes

• Fungi - yeast, bread mold, aspergillus, neurospora crassa

Labs an consume up to 10 times more clean water and power, as well as generate more single use plastic waste, than offices 

• Produce large amounts of infectious, hazardous, solid and single use plastics waste

• Uses toxic materials like PVC, DEHP, and mercury

• Consumes significant energy, up to 6X office, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions

• Require massive amounts of clean water for operations

Prevailing Shores winds blow through Westport, then over residential

• Noise and smells from enhanced rooftop mechanicals 

• Prevailing winds blow from site to residential

  • Accidental lab releases

  • Chemical and solvents

Biolabs utilize benches where work is performed. A bench often supports multiple activities simultaneously  

• Experimental work, equipment placement and storage

• Peter Fritz, Longfellow Managing Director, stated that two planned buildings supports between 800 to 1000 benches

• Thus, a 2,800,000sq ft campus would support between 5000 to 6300 benches, possibly supporting multiple experiments 

• At full capacity, potentially upwards of 13000 experiments concurrently

• Most work is at BSL2, moderate risk that can cause human disease of varying severity. Example agents: Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Salmonella, and Hepatitis B virus (HBV)