NOAA breaks ground on laboratory in Mississippi

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is consolidating its National Fisheries Service Laboratory into a 50,000-sf, $20 million lab building in Pascagoula, Miss. Designed to meet LEED Silver standards, the two-story facility will house lab and office space for the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center, NMFS National Seafood Inspection Laboratory, and the NMFS Document Approval and Security Section. Walton Construction, Kansas City, Mo., is building the facility, which will open in April 2009.