KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? The Environmental Protection Agency has opened a $23 million lab here that officials are commending for its environmental standards and the science it would produce.

The new Kansas City Science and Technology Center, located near downtown, was dedicated Friday.

“This lab will enable us to continue our commitment to sound science,” said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. She spoke Friday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the center on the north edge of the city’s Fairfax Industrial District, where the EPA had its former lab.

The facility is the only EPA lab with the ability to test air samples for low levels of dioxin and furan, a compound similar to dioxin. That distinction made the center, even before its move to the new building, the place federal officials turned for testing about 150 air samples collected during the World Trade Center cleanup.

The lab also conducts tests on water, soil and fish samples.

“I’m becoming a real downer for my husband when I tell him which fish he can’t eat,” Whitman said after viewing the lab where fish are tested for toxin levels.

Construction of the building began in October 2001 to replace the smaller site.

The center was built on a site donated by the Unified Government. The site formerly housed a trucking company and the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City.

Contractors who built the 72,000-foot center used many materials with recycled content, including the building’s carpet, ceramic tiles and concrete. Officials said the construction also adhered to strict environmental standards and followed guidelines established by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Among the building’s environmental features:

• A chiller/condenser that recovers heated water from other systems in the building.
• A tank that collects rainwater from the roof for flushing toilets.
• Motion-detector lights in the labs and natural daylight throughout the building.