To the editor:

The expansion at Bionique will bring stable, skilled, well-paying jobs to our area. But mycoplasmas, endotoxins. Is there anything else? Is any of this aerosolized? I’m not saying Unit 731 or Toledo stuff, but Bionique is well … unique. Many of us live in the downwind ellipse.

They will follow all regulations, certifications, and protocols. But so did Boeing with the Starliner space capsule fiasco last year. The 737 disasters are still in the news. 9/11 happened despite the World Trade Center being bombed eight years earlier and the CIA being “on it”. Joshua Lederberg (a true polymath) was hoodwinked despite being a Nobel laureate. Biopreparat existed, and Sverdlovsk occurred. Fukushima still happened. Recalls for foods are all the time in the news.

A White Hat Tiger Team at Bionique could be useful. Runways nearby: things can happen. Top-notch security, but what about the roof: could a drone deliver a small wheeled invertible ROV to get access via a negative pressure vent(s), cutting through external filters? “Inside job” occurred with a Cessna 172 getaway waiting nearby at the airport? Fuel runs out for backup generators, then what? COVID-like bug and staff out sick, what is the plan?

Bionique’s expansion is a huge potential positive for the community. I hope decades from now you can say to me, “See? Nothing to be concerned about.”

Just a thought … and … Murphy’s Law.

Ira Weinberg

Saranac Lake