Thursday, Senator Daisy Lawler toured the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Laboratory in Oklahoma City and was not pleased at the conditions of the lab. The Chairman of Senate Agriculture Committee, Lawler, (D-Comanche) was on site to demonstrate the agency’s need for a new lab facility after filing legislation to build a new laboratory in Oklahoma City and expand and renovate the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

“The facility in Oklahoma City was never intended to be used for a testing laboratory so there is a tremendous need to build a new building to house a state-of-the-art testing laboratory for the Department of Agriculture,” Lawler said.

She explained because of the third floor location and outdated equipment of the lab built in 1984, Oklahoma is unable to secure Federal Homeland Security dollars that are critical to the operation of the facility.

Lawler said the Oklahoma City lab conducts critical tests on the food that Oklahomans consume such as dairy products, fruits and vegetables and beef, poultry and pork products. She also said the biological safety facilities in the lab are insufficient to deal with new threats to food and agriculture products.

“The testing conducted at this lab is work to protect our children from potentially harmful diseases and from terrorist who could use the food we eat to attack our citizens and I believe we must to everything we can to protect them,” the Senator said.

Lawler said renovation of the Oklahoma Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory would provide a high-volume, low-cost, biologically safe method to dispose of diseased carcasses-something the facility is unable to do at this time.

“If Oklahoma had an outbreak of mad cow disease and we needed the space to dispose of the dead animals, right now we would just be out of luck. That is unacceptable, and something we must remedy,” Lawler said. “That is why I have authored legislation to make sure these facilities receive adequate space and equipment to help keep all Oklahomans safe.”

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Senate Communications Office - (405) 521-5774