Madison overlooked for $451 million lab amid controversy: AP

Madison, Wis. — Madison was one of nine locations to be overlooked for a $451 million federal laboratory despite scoring higher in an evaluation than the government's selection, according to a report from the Associated Press.

"It is very suspicious," the AP quoted Irwin Goldman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison as saying. Jay Cohen, undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security, picked a site in Flora, Mississippi, for the lab despite the fact that a team conducting site visits gave it a low score, the AP reported.

The proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility would research highly virulent, potentially dangerous diseases, including those that could be transmitted from animals to humans and those that could affect livestock populations.

The Department of Homeland Security needs to build a new facility because no current facility is equipped to meet its needs, according to the project's web site.