Posted on 01/18/2007 10:07:43 AM PST by BurbankKarl
Who is the young man in the sport coat shown on a grainy MTA videotape pouring mercury on the ground of the Red Line subway station at Pershing Square?
When it happened, officials quickly labeled it a harmless accident. But now, the county's joint terrorism task force has launched an investigation and is trying to find the man.
While officials say the whole thing could still be an accident, they said after reviewing peculiar behavior on the tape, a closer look is warranted. The man is shown talking to a second person about 10:45 p.m. on Dec. 22 before crouching and appearing to drop something on the edge of subway platform.
The man then reaches for an MTA intercom and tells a worker he dropped mercury there, according to sheriff's officials, before disappearing.
But in what officials admit was a breakdown in procedure, MTA workers didn't immediately clear out the area — or notify law enforcement or the fire department. Hazmat crews didn't respond to the scene until 7:15 a.m. the next morning — eight hours later.
When asked whether the procedures worked as planned, L.A. County Sheriff's Cmdr. Dan Finkelstein said "absolutely not." He added that the incident shows that not all transit workers are adequately trained to respond to potential dangers.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
someone call CTU!
Paging Jack Bauer!
Probably a dry run to check our response. The perp got away clean, not encouraging.
WOW!!! A terrorist attack. I remember when a mercury spill usually meant that someone got careless in the high school chemistry lab. Oh well, we're all doomed anyway.
Sounds overhyped for just a mercury spill....
However test runs to see how authorities respond (even when the offender contacts authorities himself) are not unheard of.
Coming soon: drive-by mercuryings.
Hg is considered to be a horror now, but a short while back was a commonly used element. It was even used in kid's toys.
Those days are gone forever, though, and today anyone deliberately spilling Hg in a public place is probably committing a crime, and rightly so. His intent was not benign.
Hope they get the guy and any buddies he may have.
How remarkable that the guy they're seeking is described as "white or Middle Eastern." I thought he definitely looked ME, possibly Moroccan, I would say.
It wasn't spilled. The guy carefully pours it on the platform, jumps up and moves away.
And to think I was a young terrorist when I brought mercury to my class show and tell. I was a trailblazer and didn't realize it.
Yeah. And the Japanese weren't planning an attack on Pearl Harbor just weeks before they exorcised their prior war games on Pearl Harbor just weeks after their mock attacks right?
When they outlaw mercury, only outlaws with thermometers will have mercury...
Sounds overhyped for just a mercury spill....
Not by today's standards for mercury! The OSHA limit is 100 micrograms per cubic meter, and merely having it exposed to air at room temperature can reach those levels.
A spill of one pound (about 1.5 fl oz) is cause for a full-scale EPA alert.
The fact that is takes 9 hours for a response to find out what agent was delivered into the subway is a scary enough thought.
And once again, we have the official "Nothing to see here" line from public safety officials in Los Angeles.
Different generation, different time.
I'm nervous!
Should we shelter in place here in Indiana?
Room temerature? Huh! With a bit of effort you can boil mercury.
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