For Sale: Plum Island. Slightly used

The federal Department of Homeland Security has taken the first step toward selling Plum Island, location of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

The homeland security department took over the facility from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2003. Plum Island consists of 840 acres  in Long Island Sound, about 1.5 miles from Orient Point, N.Y. Homeland Security published a notice in today's Federal Register announcing that it was planning to conduct an environmental study of the property to prepare for the sale.

The high-security animal disease lab on the island has been a research site for foot-and-mouth disease since 1954. Also on the island is a lighthouse dating from 1869 and the remains of Fort Terry, a former Army facility.

The property also includes the 9.5-acre site in Orient Point where workers board ferries to access the island.

Homeland Security plans to relocate the research lab to Kansas.