Terrorists in Milwaukee?

Nancy Drake

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/265487.asp

This made news on CNN!

Apparently a utility tower fell into another causing both to crash. When some bolts were found to be missing, the FBI was called! Now people are panicking, saying it was a terrorist attack in Milwaukee. While it did shut down the electricity to the airport for an hour or so, I can't find any reason why everyone is freaking out.

All CNN said was that it was "suspicious" with nothing to back the claim except "missing bolts." Why was this newsworthy? Maybe because John Edwards landed here shortly before the power went out. I didn't even hear them mention that part! OOOOOhh SpOOOOky!

I can see why Terrorists would want to attack Milwaukee on a Saturday. They hate our breweries!

A police officer came into the store and a customer asked him if it was safe to fly today. He said, "I can't say," in a very ominous tone, acting like there was something to hide. Like they wouldn't close the airport if it was unsafe!

*sigh*

blondie

Terrorist attack in Milwaukee!

Remember Joe McCarthy was from Wisconsin and he saw a Communist under every toadstool.

Nancy Drake

Remember Joe McCarthy was from Wisconsin and he saw a Communist under every toadstool.

LOL, Blondie! How is it that I missed the fact that he was from Wisconsin??? Looks like I need to brush up on my history.

hillbilly

My day job is in the Electric Utility Industry. For the last year or so there have been the Homeland folks have been circulating reports of Hi- Line Tower vandalism and we have been it's been suggested that Power Companies step up line patrols etc in an effort to increase security

The general public my be aware of Nuclear plants and those are an obvoious target.... actually pretty hard to "take out"... those containments are tough and Nuke's have always had good security.

What most of you dont know is that the majority of the utility system is for the most part un-patroled, un-observed and un-secured. Most transmission towers are out in the boonies someplace... a few bolts out... a couple of cut angle irons or a chainsaw on a wooden pole could cause a lot of damage very fast. The damage is done un-observed, then you wait for Mother Nature to make a gust of wind--- off to the races!

A person with a basic knowlege of how the national grid is laid out of power delivery could, through a few un-authorized switching operations shut most of north america down for hours...

Those switching actions and a a few demolished line sections could black out big areas for days... until the operators could figure out what happened and make repairs.

With out going into detail.... I can tell you that the "plan" to secure most of the EHV-Transmission plant (lines, substations and switch-yards) in this country is an "exotic" hardware store padlock and a chain link fence. Any body with a pair of bolt cutters and an "agenda" could raise a whole lot of hell with the grid.

By the way... who needs terrorists? Utilities nation wide- have ceased maintainence programs now for years... the system is starting to fall down all by itself in many locations.

Hill

hillbilly

bttt

Dan-O

They hate our breweries!

No, they hate the Brewers.

jws

I can see why Terrorists would want to attack Milwaukee on a Saturday. They hate our breweries!

I don't remember any breweries in Oak Creek...

I used to live less than 2 miles from there. I can't even picture where these towers were. Are they talking about the long line of towers that follow the railroad tracks between 6th and 13th? They made it sound like there's 2 of whatever it was.

Where was Edwards speaking?

Elsewhere

Sounds more like a teen-age gag gone too far. Maybe a couple of stupid teens went out there with a wrench and removed the bolts thinking it would be funny.

If that is all the terrorists can muster here in the US, then I don't think we have much to worry about.

kls

I agree Elsewhere.

jws

If that is all the terrorists can muster here in the US, then I don't think we have much to worry about.

I'll admit, it sounds like a plan in a TV action drama. As they gather around a map, "Team A will remove the bolts from the tower here, while Team B sneaks onto a plane with weapons here - sychronize your watches".

But, it is a possibility and should be investigated. Maybe the plan was to take out power to the airport. Maybe they thought that the X-ray scanners wouldn't work and didn't rely on people using battery powered wand scanners. Maybe they hoped aux power would eventually run out and security cameras would go out. Anything could have gotten onto a plane. And like Boston's proximity to New York, Milwaukee and Chicago are only 80-90 miles apart and Chicago has plenty of tall buildings - including the US's tallest building since the World Trade Centers collapsed (the Sears Tower).

There are a few hotels in the immediate vicinity where a saboteur could have staked out the towers and easily slipped away to sabotage them.

And I've gotta wonder about those bolts in the first place. I don't know what these towers looked like and I don't know what kinds of bolts were missing, but I've seen light poles with HUGE bolts. You don't just bring out your 1/4 socket wrench and socket set to loosen these things. You'd need some heavy-duty equipment like those giant socket wrenches and a pretty big socket to match. Those things aren't cheap and aren't likely to be in your parent's tool chest. And it's probably going to take some muscle to work those bolts loose too. It sounds a little too involved in both money and effort for your average teenage prankster. Unless I'm wrong about the bolt size or unless their parents had the equipment already.

Or maybe the WEPCO crew just skipped putting in all the bolts because it was almost Miller-Time.

Terrorists in Milwaukee?

Share this