Preparations Stepped Up For Possible New Attacks Concern Focuses on Power Plants, Trucks, Ships, Bridges

By Eric Pianin and Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, November 1, 2001; Page A02

While authorities try to cope with the anthrax outbreak, federal and state officials are taking steps to prepare for a possible escalation of terrorism that experts say could include truck bombings and attacks on nuclear power plants as well as more hijackings.

Since the FBI issued its second national terrorism alert Monday, administration officials and congressional intelligence experts have studied myriad terrorist threats, including the outside possibility of the use of portable nuclear weapons. Steps taken by state and federal officials point, in particular, to concern about assaults on power plants and utilities, truck explosions in tunnels and on bridges, and attacks on ships carrying hazardous materials.

"If you're asking for a scenario of things that could go wrong, it's a mighty long list," said Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), chairman of the House intelligence committee and a former CIA officer.

Yesterday, the governors of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi ordered National Guard troops to strengthen security at nuclear facilities in their states, following a recommendation from Tom Ridge, the homeland security director, according to a spokesman for Entergy Corp. in Arkansas.

In a conference call Tuesday, Ridge advised governors throughout the country to take such precautions if they had not already done so, according to Phil Fisher, the Entergy spokesman. The Federal Aviation Administration this week temporarily barred private aircraft from approaching 86 sensitive nuclear sites, including power plants and waste storage facilities.

The Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, meanwhile, has begun intensive inspections of all 9,500 mining and construction companies and others licensed to use explosives across the country. New York Gov. George E. Pataki (R) said that more than 1,500 National Guard troops patrolling in and around New York City will be armed for the first time by week's end.

Federal and local officials also remain concerned about the possibility that terrorists would attack ships carrying propane and other fuels. The city of Boston went to court in an attempt to keep liquefied natural gas tankers out of Boston harbor, but a judge ruled against the city on Monday -- just hours before the FBI issued its alert -- saying officials had failed to demonstrate a sufficient threat.

President Bush yesterday defended his decision to put the country on national security alert, telling business leaders that the country was still under attack.

"I wanted our law enforcement officials to know we had some information that made it necessary for us to protect United States assets, to protect those areas that might be vulnerable. And that's exactly what's taking place today," Bush said.

"This is a very unusual period in American history, obviously. We've never been attacked like this before. We're still being attacked," he said.

The nation has been awash in special warnings and alerts since Sept. 11, many focused on the types of potential terrorist targets that have been used in previous attacks or identified as possibilities by intelligence officials.

One example is commercial trucks, which have been used by terrorists around the world as delivery vehicles for makeshift but effective bombs.

Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network has been particularly fond of explosives packed into trucks or cars, using the method in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and on the coordinated 1998 assaults on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. A homegrown U.S. terrorist, Timothy J. McVeigh, used a rental truck to deliver the bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the FBI and the Department of Transportation have warned the trucking industry to watch for suspicious activity in connection with hazardous chemicals, including radioactive waste and other substances that can be used to create weapons of mass destruction.

State and federal authorities in the United States have dramatically stepped up roadside inspections of tractor-trailers, especially those carrying hazardous materials, and Canadian officials are now asking for two forms of identification from truckers crossing the border, according to the American Trucking Associations industry group.

"We've been on high alert since September 11, and there is more focus on overall security in the industry," said Mike Russell, a spokesman for the trucking group. "We're transitioning to focus as much on security as on highway safety."

The ATF has temporarily halted its other regular inspections to focus on 9,500 mining and construction firms, fireworks factories and other companies that hold federal explosives licenses. The ATF is particularly interested in identifying any missing stocks, and has devoted a quarter of its agents to the task, an ATF official said.

The ATF and the FBI are still investigating the discovery of C-4 plastic explosive, along with a highly explosive, 1,000-foot strand of detonator cord, in a Greyhound bus locker in Philadelphia earlier last month. Authorities have determined that the cord was manufactured for military use, and have found no connection so far to the terrorist network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Nancy Savage, an FBI agent in Eugene, Ore., who is president of the FBI Agents Association, said the biggest concerns for investigators include airports, power plants and other key infrastructure points.

"Everyone expects additional attacks," Savage said. "We don't think they're going to give up now. That's why we're at war: We don't think they plan to give up anytime soon."

The FBI was particularly concerned in the weeks after Sept. 11 about crop-duster airplanes, which are fixtures in rural areas but which also could be used as part of a chemical or biological attack.

The presumed ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta, showed interest in crop-dusters and how much poison they could carry, and even tried unsuccessfully this year to secure a U.S. government loan to purchase one. In addition, one of the key suspects now in U.S. custody, Zacarias Moussaoui, had information about crop-dusters on a computer.

The discoveries prompted the FAA to twice ground crop-dusters, and agricultural spraying companies have been asked to lock their planes and take other precautions since resuming flights.

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said yesterday that the threat level announced Monday has not abated.

"I wish I could turn the clock back to before September the 11th," Ashcroft said. "I wish that we didn't have to talk about threats, I wish we didn't have to make announcements about threats. But the facts are different."

Staff writer Peter Behr contributed to this report.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2001