FREDERICK, Md. (AP) - A Frederick committee that began as a grass-roots watchdog on biological defense laboratories is electing a new leader.
The Containment Laboratory Community Advisory Committee meets Tuesday night in Frederick. The group is starting its fifth year with members appointed by Frederick city and county government.
Longtime chairwoman and co-founder Beth Willis says she left the panel when her term expired June 30. Willis says she's exhausted.
She says the group's members are united in their desire for more transparency and public accountability by public and private laboratories that handle some of the world's deadliest organisms.
The group was formed amid concern about the expansion of biodefense work at Fort Detrick. It has pushed without success for legislation to require more public disclosure by private labs doing biodefense work.
