The VAEL Lab
Mission Statement: "The Vermont Agriculture and Environmental Laboratory (VAEL) provides accurate and timely analytical testing services in support of State Agencies and others who regulate or monitor environmental, agricultural, animal, and consumer health."
In August 2011, Tropical Storm Irene flooded the Waterbury State Complex destroying the shared Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, and Agency of Natural Resources’ laboratory facilities. The labs and occupants were re-located to temporary facilities throughout Washington and Chittenden Counties while the planning and design for a new facility was underway. Despite the many hardships it caused, the flood provided an opportunity for the two agencies strategize and discuss the merging of the AAFM Agriculture and ANR La Rosa Environmental Labs into a single laboratory. In July 2015, the Vermont Agriculture and Environmental Laboratory (VAEL) was formed. VAEL is housed under AAFM but provides analytical testing services to AAFM, ANR, and other organizations.
The VAEL Facility
Mission Statement: "The Vermont Agriculture and Environmental Laboratory facility is the functional and collaborative home to diverse programs within the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets and the Agency of Natural Resources, including VAEL (the analytical lab), Weights and Measures, Plant Health and Pest Management, Entomology, Animal Health, Watershed Management, Fish Health and Forest Biology."
Construction of the new facility (also coined VAEL) on the then "Vermont Technical College", now Vermont State University Randolph Center Campus began in December 2017 and was completed in February 2019. The VAEL facility is home to the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets VT Agriculture and Environmental Laboratory (VAEL, the lab) along with the AAFM’s Weights & Measures, Plant Industry, and Animal Pathology Labs and the Agency of Natural Resources’ Ambient Biomonitoring, Fish Health, and Forest Biology Labs. Nearly 8 years after the loss of the Waterbury complex, these programs are back under the same roof, in a state of art facility that fosters cross-disciplinary and inter-agency collaborations.
- Weights and Measures: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/weights-measures
- Plant Industry: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/public-health-agricultural-resource-management-division/plant-health-and-pest-management
- Animal Pathology: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/animal-health
- Watershed Management: https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed
- Fish Health: https://vtfishandwildlife.com/about-us/department-divisions/fish-division/fish-management/fish-health-program
- Forest Biology: https://fpr.vermont.gov/forest/forest-health/whats-wrong-my-tree