The testing of some of the most potentially dangerous substances is being done in outdated and overcrowded state labs, the State Building Commission was told Wednesday.
In response, the commission approved $1.18 million to plan a $58 million facility that, starting in 2012, could house both the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection laboratories.
The state hygiene lab, built in 1953, has a heating and ventilation system that has never been upgraded and remains in imminent danger of failing, according to information supplied to the commission. Wide temperature swings result from the inadequate system, and affect the integrity of the samples in the lab tests.