The La Jolla based Scripps Research Institute has suffered a setback in the company's bid to build a major biomedical research facility in Florida. KPBS Reporter Erik Anderson has details.
A federal judge in Florida says Palm Beach county can NOT do infrastructure work around the Scripps buildings already under construction. The court says the county has to complete an environmental review which could take up to two years.
Scripps has received more than $500 million to anchor a major research park in Palm Beach County. Scripps spokesman Keith McKeown says his firm is reviewing the ruling. He says the decision won't stop research already underway on the east coast.
McKeown: "We're working out of temporary facilities on the Jupiter Florida Campus of Florida Atlantic University and so we're up and running there we have about 150 employees there."
Scripps had hoped to open the permanent campus by 2007. Florida wants to establish a research hub that rivals the Torrey Pines Mesa.
Erik Anderson KPBS News
