Sale of Plum Island disputed

AP

The planned sale of animal disease research site Plum Island needs to be halted, members of Connecticut's and New York's congressional delegations told their colleagues on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on Wednesday.

Selling the remote 840-acre island could jeopardize its undeveloped sanctuary for wildlife and native plants, the lawmakers said. The lobbying effort by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Rep. Timothy Bishop, D-N.Y., and others is the most recent in a series of moves to protect Plum Island, off the eastern tip of Long Island.

Congress voted in 2008 to close the animal disease research site and move its work to Manhattan, Kansas. The federal General Services Administration is required by law to sell the island and may not transfer it to another federal agency for preservation.

http://m.timesunion.com/news/article/Sale-of-Plum-Island-disputed-5596926.php