Is Boston doomed?

Part 4

by Michael Crowley

As if a suitcase of plutonium, a spray of dengue fever, or a jar of ebola weren't frightening enough, there are some less exotic -- but no less deadly -- threats to the city to worry about.

Some experts believe Boston is almost uniquely vulnerable to a massive disaster involving liquefied natural gas (LNG), a supercompressed and phenomenally explosive form of fuel.

Boston is the host to one of the country's largest facilities for storage of LNG, which is typically shipped overseas at more than 600 times its original density. If the fuel is spilled or ignited, it can explode with near-nuclear force.

"Successful sabotage of an [LNG] facility in an urban area," according to a government report, "could cause a catastrophe." And not all urban areas are created equal. According to the author of a book on domestic terrorism, "Of all the cities in the world, Boston is the most susceptible to destruction" from an LNG disaster.

When the Eagle Screams, a 1994 book on America's vulnerability to terrorism, details the risks posed by tankers unloading LNG in Boston harbor, storage facilities around the city, and trucks transporting the gas that could easily be hijacked or sabotaged. Terrorists could spill gas from a stolen truck into the Callahan tunnel, author Stephen Bowman writes, noting that the gas in one truck could deliver a fireball filling 16 miles of subway system. In other words: good-bye tunnel, and good-bye to probably hundreds of people in the vicinity.

The thought of a major accident at a nuclear power plant is so familiar that even I have been numbed somewhat to the fear of a meltdown. But it's worth noting that Boston lies within lethal range of three plants, most notably the Pilgrim nuclear plant just 35 miles or so away in Plymouth. In 1994, the Phoenix's Tim Sandler identified seven major hazards at Pilgrim, calling the plant a "nuclear time bomb."

Part 5

Michael Crowley can be reached at mcrowley[a]phx.com.