Hawaii News Now’s Keoki Kerr reports that the University of Hawaii at Manoa is ditching plans to build a pricey and contentious bio lab in Kalaeloa.

The lab, what officials called the Pacific Health Research Laboratory, was expected to cost $47.5 million. But Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple said the plan would have operated at too much of a deficit, according to Kerr:

“The only possible way would be either an infusion of state funds or, quite frankly, it would fall on the backs of our students at Manoa, and I’m not willing to do that,” Apple said, adding that UH tuition funds would have been required to make up the lab’s deficit. 

The lab had been in the works for nearly 10 years and was riddled with controversy. Critics pointed to lab’s escalating costs. Residents in the Kalaeloa area also expressed concerns over safety given the lab would have been exposed to diseases such as Dengue fever and tuberculosis. 

Read HNN’s full exclusive story here. 

Courtesy of TheGirlsNY

— Alia Wong