Terror's Next Target?
More than five years after 9/11, a frightening inside look at why we are still terribly vulnerable
Shortly after 7 p.m., the older cousin drives a tanker truck filled just that afternoon with a gasoline shipment across the Delaware River. His younger relative, who's driving a pickup truck loaded with a small fertilizer bomb, leads the way. About 15 minutes later, the smaller truck accelerates and drives directly at the guard shack marking the entrance of the refinery, detonating its explosives and knocking out the rollaway gate, allowing unobstructed access to the refinery.
A moment later, the older cousin brings his vehicle to an abrupt stop near a large tank well marked with hazard placards. Crying out "Allah is great!" he detonates explosives on a suicide vest strapped to his chest. The explosion sends a ball of flame 200 feet high, killing everyone within 100 yards of the truck immediately. Secondary explosions kill or injure many more employees and contractors, crippling the refinery's ability to put in place its emergency response plan.
Two miles away, the fans at the stadium go quiet as the concussive force and noise of the explosion reach them. The umpire halts the game as officials scramble for information. By now, secondary explosions have ruptured pipelines to several smaller tanks that contain thousands of gallons of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. Raging fires nearby cause the acid to evaporate and form a highly concentrated, colorless cloud, which stays close to the ground. The toxic plume moves slowly across the interstate and toward the blue-collar neighborhood north of Roosevelt Park, where windows were shattered by the explosion. The cloud drifts slowly toward the ballpark.
After a few minutes, officials on the loudspeakers tell the public to calmly evacuate and move north. With one highway closed for emergency-vehicle traffic, and another already crowded, gridlock begins immediately. Thousands of people are trapped in cars as the cloud drifts over them. Those who don't close the windows and shut off their engines draw in chemical vapors through their cars' ventilation systems.
The acid begins to burn the eyes and eyelids of the trapped occupants. Breathing becomes labored and painful, as lungs become inflamed and congested, depriving them of oxygen and leading to seizures. Ultimately, many fall into a coma. Without immediate medical attention, everyone caught in the toxic plume will die within 10 hours.
This is only a scenario, of course, but one that sadly remains plausible more than five years after September 11. Many people may be shocked to learn that an oil refinery has the potential to pose such a threat. Be assured that terrorists are not in the dark. Al Qaeda has been acquiring experience in these kinds of attacks in Iraq and Saudi Arabia; assaults on oil and gas pipelines in Iraq alone cost that country more than $16 billion in lost oil revenues from January 2004 to March 2006. Terrorists have also been sharing newly acquired recipes for creating improvised explosive devices in Internet chat rooms. All the information on the dangers of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and the vulnerability of the Sunoco facility can be found in publicly available reports readily accessible with the click of a mouse.
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