CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A proposal to consolidate the state’s laboratories as a cost saving move isn’t drawing rave reviews from West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.
“I don’t think we should be consolidated, or combined or co-located,” Leonhardt told MetroNews.
The idea of pulling the state labs under one roof was part of the governor’s proposal during his State of the State Address. The administration wants to create the labs in a single unit at the West Virginia Technology Park in South Charleston.
“The price tag to put them all together. And that’s the state police forensic crime units. The Department of Agriculture, DHHR, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, DEP and Weights and Measures, the price tag, from what I know is $250 million. I’m proposing that we quit kicking this down the road and put $125 million in this year $125 million next year out of surplus and get it done,” Gov. Justice said in a speech before the legislature last Wednesday.
One reason for the proposal is to save money. Leonhardt doesn’t buy it.
“I just don’t think putting everything together is wise. They tell me this is a cost saving move, but they still haven’t shown me how. I don’t think taxpayers should spend the money on the labs the way they are designing them. Plus there’s no room for expansion,” said Leonhardt.
But Leonhardt’s concerns don’t end there. He’s worried putting all of the state’s lab works in a single location is a security risk in several different ways.
“During the Elk River water crises, Department of Agriculture was doing water testing because DHHR was unable to do it. We don’t do the same tests, although we have a lot of the same equipment and we can recalibrate in an emergency. But if we’re all together and something happens in that locale, then there’s no backup,” he said.
Leonhardt also worried about the potential for terrorism. He noted the 1993 Oklahoma City bombing took out seven federal regulatory agencies because the bomber was disgruntled at just one of those agencies.
“We’re all regulatory agencies and regulatory agencies often make people mad,” he explained.
Leonhardt didn’t disagree there needed to be a new laboratory for the Department of Agriculture, but he wanted it located at the Guthrie complex near Sissonville where it’s already situated. He said pulling it from the location wouldn’t make any sense and feared it would hurt the reputation the lab has built as one of the most dependable and reliable in the nation.
“The employees deserve a good working environment. They do great work and we have built a tremendous reputation. Why anybody would want to split those offices from the leadership, well nobody has been able to explain to me a good reason why,” Leonhardt said.