Photo by Doug Koontz William Henry Main Jr., who lives on Military Road, has been a neighbor of Fort Detrick since 1953. His house overlooks Detrick near the old PX.

Some Frederick residents who live near the base have said they aren't concerned about a lack of safety on the base or environmental impacts because many Fort Detrick scientists and officials live in the Frederick community.

"For us, these folks serve as the canaries in the mine to give us a sense of whether or not we should sweat," said Carl Pritchard, who lives on Wilson Place near Fort Detrick. "I figure they have the insight, education, background and insider knowledge to know if it's time to panic."

Mr. Pritchard said having many Fort Detrick employees as neighbors helps give local residents a better understanding of the base's precautions.

"If I ever see them collectively packing their bags and moving to higher ground, then I'll wax paranoid," Mr. Pritchard said.

Several neighbors have said Fort Detrick's potential environmental and biological ramifications make the base unfit for a small city.

"Fort Detrick has one of the largest concentrations of biological material in the world, and it's located in the midst of a populated area," said former Frederick Mayor Paul Gordon, who lives on Shookstown Road. He questioned whether the base's economic benefits are being put ahead of local residents' safety.

Only a handful of biosafety level 4 laboratories, which handle agents of bioterrorism with no known vaccine or treatment, are currently operating in the United States.

BSL-4 labs exist at USAMRIID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio.

Fort Detrick also has BSL-4 labs planned as part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases building and the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, in the base's National Interagency Biodefense Campus under construction.

In June 2004, a dozen protesters lined up outside Frederick Community College during a meeting hosted by the Department of Homeland Security explaining NBACC's mission of predicting and analyzing bioterrorism.

At a meeting at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School in February, about 25 members of the public protested plans to build new USAMRIID facilities in the NIBC, holding signs such as "Study war no more" and "No to bioweapons arms race."

Fred Johnston, who has lived near Fort Detrick on West Hills Drive for 30 years, said a neighborhood joke was the deer on base glowing at night. "You don't know what's going on over there," he said.

Mr. Johnston said he's concerned about the continued expansion of biodefense facilities in the NIBC. "All it takes is one little 'oops.'"