Natick considers lab regulations after Neiman Marcus redevelopment sparks safety concerns

NATICK — Natick health officials are considering implementing local lab regulations, just weeks after plans to redevelop the Natick Mall’s Neiman Marcus store into a research and development facility fueled conversations about community safety.

Last month, mall neighbors raised concerns that NM Redevelopment’s plans for the site could eventually include a lab. The project is still in its early stages and the developers have not yet confirmed that the project will, in fact, include a lab.

The ensuing conversations put a spotlight on biosafety levels — designations assigned to labs to determine the protective measures needed, depending on the materials they use.

What do biosafety levels mean?

Each biosafety level (BSL) comes with certain risks, but also certain protective equipment, safety measures and oversight, Public Health Director Michael Boudreau explained in a presentation at Tuesday’s Board of Health meeting.

For example, BSL 1 labs work with materials that pose minimal risk to the community.

“A biosafety level 1 laboratory is essentially a high school laboratory,” Boudreau said.

BSL 2 labs might work with microbes that pose a moderate hazard under certain conditions, but the materials at play are “not exotic,” he said. “They’re not known to creep up on you.”

He said BSL 3 labs could handle microbes such as tuberculosis or COVID-19, whereas BSL 4 labs would see more hazardous materials such as Ebola or Marburg virus.

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NM Redevelopment, a subsidiary of Boston real estate firm Bulfinch Companies Inc., previously told the Daily News that the property is intended to be a biosafety level (BSL) 1 or 2, and that BSL 4 is not within the developer’s scope.

According to Boudreau, regulation and oversight for laboratories could come from a number of agencies, departments and policies — local, state and federal. Locally, that includes zoning bylaws, the Fire Department, the Building Department and the Board of Health, he explained.

Do other communities regulate labs?

“Many Massachusetts towns or cities have promulgated regulations prohibiting biomedical research operating on BSL 3 or BSL 4,” he said, citing Lexington, Bedford, Newton, Framingham and Cambridge as some nearby communities with regulations in place.

He suggested the Board of Health discuss developing its own regulations for Natick.

“We certainly have that ability,” Boudreau said. “We can certainly draft them up. I would suggest if we go that route, that we would prohibit BSL 3 and above.”

He said the intention is not to halt scientific progress, “but we also want to make sure that it is being done in a safe manner with the protection of public health in mind.”

Boudreau said he could draft regulations and seek town counsel’s opinion before presenting them to the Board of Health at a later date, and board members appeared open to the idea.

“It seems like it certainly is an appropriate regulation that we should have,” board Clerk Don Breda said.

Neighbors weigh in

Community members who spoke at the meeting seemed open to possible regulations, as well.

“We would like to really urge you to adopt a statute that includes a minimum setback of 1,000 feet between the air exhaust stacks from any structure housing biolabs to the nearest residential property,” said Stacy Randel, who lives at Nouvelle at Natick, a condominium adjacent to the mall.

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She was among several neighbors who raised concerns about exhaust or fumes from a potential lab contaminating the air in their homes.

“No exhaust filtration systems are 100% effective,” Randel said.

According to Patricia Elmore, also a Nouvelle resident, the neighbors’ concern doesn’t have to do with research, but with safety.

“I'm a statistician,” she said. “Many of the people living here are physicians and researchers themselves. We're not against research. We're not against science, but we do not want them in where we live and where we eat.”

Raj Goyal, a medical professor who said he has been in charge of running laboratory complexes, urged more local oversight and regulation.

“All safety is local,” he said.

Abby Patkin is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. Follow Abby on Twitter @AMPatkin. She can be reached at apatkin@wickedlocal.com.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Natick Board of Health to consider laboratory regulations