FRESNO, Calif. – The City of Fresno released documents earlier this week detailing its efforts to report the illegal biomedical lab found recently in Reedley. City officials claim that emails and call logs show that the state failed to follow up on the city’s complaints.
According to the documents, the city became aware of the company’s health and safety violations last fall, while it was still operating out of Fresno. An email shows that an inspector notified the Fresno County Environmental Health Department of the lab’s code violations in late October. Inspectors said the business was improperly disposing of hazardous waste, conducting live animal testing, and had unlabeled chemicals.
Health officials said the lab was operated by Universal MediTech Inc. and Prestige Biotech Inc.
The documents also show that city code enforcement officers filed a complaint with the state in early November. According to an email, officials with California EPA and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control acknowledged the complaint, but city officials claimed the agencies did not follow up.
At that point, the lab was reportedly in the process of moving its operations to Reedley – where code enforcement officers became aware of suspicious activity inside the facility in December. A routine inspection in May revealed the unauthorized lab’s operation, which included the research and development of diagnostic tests for COVID-19 and pregnancy. Public health investigators later found evidence of unsanitary conditions, including the presence of infectious diseases such as malaria, hepatitis and HIV.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Fresno city councilmember Garry Bredefeld accused the state of not being proactive about the city’s concerns surrounding the lab.
“What is not clear from these documents is the degree to which there is ongoing follow up from these different state of California agencies,” Bredefeld said. “What is clear, though, is the need for greater communication and coordination from all government agencies in dealing with this potential threat in the future.”
Bredefeld also announced that the city has implemented a new policy that would require the discovery of any hazardous materials to be reported to the city attorney, the city council and the mayor – which Bredefeld said “did not happen in this case.”
Additionally, local officials are in the process of adopting an ordinance that would require more rigorous notifications from new lab operators to the city’s Planning and Development Department. The ordinance will be up for final vote in September. If approved, it would take effect in mid-October.
Until then, local officials plan to release new information as they learn more.
“The public should have known, and they have a right to know,” said Bredefeld. “We got this information and we're releasing it to the public. It's as simple as that.”
This story is part of the Central Valley News Collaborative, which is supported by the Central Valley Community Foundation with technology and training support by Microsoft Corp.
