JFK arrests raise issue of pipeline vulnerability

NEW YORK – A foiled plot to blow up a jet fuel pipeline under John F. Kennedy International Airport drew attention to what counterterrorism experts have warned could be a key target.

On Saturday, three men, one of them a former member of Guyana


It was the first threat against Buckeye Pipe Line Co., which operates petroleum conduits in 18 states, the company said. Its pumping facility in Linden, N.J., has 45 storage tanks pumps turbine fuel, gasoline, diesel and other fuel and heating oils through two 12-inch pipes to customers in New York City, including JFK and LaGuardia airports. The network totals 35 miles within the city alone.

Roy Haase, a spokesman at Buckeye Partners LP, in Breinigsville, Pa., declined to discuss details of the plot or the security measures of the company, which operates pipelines ranging more than 5,000 miles.

AP