"The problem with the lab very simply is that they have always put science before the environment," said Smith. "It's the classic scientific mentality."
Lawsuit
In February, lawyers filed a $1 billion suit on behalf of the lab's neighbors, claiming that pollution from the facility has caused cancer and other illnesses in the neighboring community.
Fish Unlimited is now planning a second lawsuit against BNL as well as AUI and, if possible, the nine associated universities.
Since the underground pollution first came to light in January, allegations have emerged that BNL may have known of leaks in its nuclear reactor's cooling system as early as 1991.
The wildlife around the lab and the river running next to the site contain abnormally high levels of radioactivity, according to Smith.
Pena and other officials have also expressed outrage over how AUI and the lab have handled the concerns of its neighbors.
"The Brookhaven National Laboratory has lost the public trust from the citizens of Long Island..." Pena said in a news conference. "The combination of confusion and mismanagement that has been going on here for years is going to end."
One internal evaluation of the lab's safety procedure described the its approach to environment, safety and health as informal with characteristics of "a university atmosphere."
But critics of Pena's decision said that the high-level research at the lab was a consequence of this "university atmosphere."
Four discoveries at BNL have been awarded the Noble Prize in Physics.
Fish Unlimited's law suit will allege that BNL violated the Clean Air and Clean Water Act. The suit also alleges that pollution from the lab has caused those who live near the lab to develop cancer and other illnesses.
The suit is being handled by attorney Jan Schlichtmann who undertook a landmark suit against two corporations for water pollution they caused in Woburn, Mass. The case was made famous by the book A Civil Action.
BNL is located in 350 buildings on 5,300 acres in Upton, Long Island. The lab does research in physics, medicine, chemistry, biology and environmental science.
The lab has been a Federal Superfund site since 1989 because of groundwater contamination involving chemical and radioactive waste