<p>Plum Island, a government facility off Long Island where dangerous animal diseases have been studied since the 1950s, will not be rebuilt, according to a list of possible replacement sites released Wednesday by the government.</p><p>The Department of Homeland Security said 18 locations are now under consideration for a new, $450 million, 400-employee replacement of Plum Island. But the New York site did not make the list.</p><p>Two of the 18 possible locations are in Athens, Ga.</p><p>Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Timothy Bishop, both Democrats, have lobbied to keep Plum Island open, without adding new work with diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans.</p><p>DHS officials said that the desire to keep the facility from expanding to more dangerous, human-borne diseases kept Plum Island out of the running for the new research site. The agency does not say it specifically intends to close Plum Island, but the new planned facility is regularly referred to as a "replacement."</p><p>Bishop and Clinton want to see new efforts made to modernize the aging facilities at the laboratory, which had been the scene of a protracted battle between management and a maintenance workers' union.</p><p>Both lawmakers maintained Wednesday that the site selection announcement was good news for Long Island residents and that the facility has a good chance to stay open.</p><p>"Plum Island is the wrong location for the study of highly contagious human diseases," said Clinton in a statement.</p><p>Bishop said Plum Island "continues to serve a vital role in our nation's biodefense."</p><p>DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen said the new facility probably won't be completed for years, and in the meantime they're spending $35 million on infrastructure, equipment and security upgrades to Plum Island.</p><p>"We anticipate shifting some responsibilities from Plum Island to the new facility but that's another seven years down the line. What we are going to do soon is a full study examining Plum Island" and its possible future uses, said Agen.</p><p>A 2003 congressional study found security flaws at the site but Homeland Security officials have since said those concerns have been addressed.</p><p>A tiny pork chop-shaped piece of land off the eastern tip of Long Island's north fork, Plum Island scientists have studied contagious animal diseases like foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever for decades. The former Army base is the only facility in the country that has vaccines for those diseases, making it a potential target for terrorists.</p><p>The finalists for the lab announced Wednesday, in addition to the Georgia sites, are in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. DHS aims to narrow down the list of 18 sites by the end of this year.</p><p>Harley Moon, a former director of Plum Island who is now a professor emeritus from Iowa State University, said that when he was at the Department of Agriculture years ago there was a desire among many senior administrators to close Plum Island but the political will was lacking.</p><p>There are also hazy legal issues that still have to be resolved, Moon said.</p><p>"I"m one who has urged that it should move away because it's too expensive to operate there, but I could see where it's reasonable to leave the option open," said Moon.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press writer Nancy Zuckerbrod contributed to this report.</p>
