Man plans to blow up Refinery that hasn't existed since 1993

DevilzFan · Feb 17, 2006

Refinery allegedly slated for attack no longer exists

Pa. man suspected of terror plot to blow up ex-facility in Perth Amboy

Tuesday, February 14, 2006
BY TOM HAYDON AND SUE EPSTEIN
Star-Ledger Staff

Federal authorities allege that Michael Curtis Reynolds had plans to blow up the Standard Oil refinery in Perth Amboy as part of a terrorist plot that included damaging the Alaskan pipeline.

But if the 47-year-old Wilkes- Barre, Pa., man ever made it to Perth Amboy, he would have discovered that the refinery no longer exists.

Reynolds was arrested Dec. 5 on an unrelated weapons charge outside Pocatello, Idaho, where he had expected to meet a purported alQaeda operative who was to give him $40,000 to finance the alleged plot, according to federal court transcripts obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The alQaeda contact was actually a 36-year-old Montana judge working for the FBI.

The alleged plot included plans to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the Transcontinental Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that runs from the Gulf Coast through Pennsylvania to New Jersey and New York City, as well as the Williams Refinery in Opal, Wyo., and the Standard Oil refinery in Perth Amboy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus Jr. said Reynolds was "doing it as a plan to disrupt governmental function, to change the government's actions in foreign countries, and to impact on the national debate about the war," according to the Inquirer.

In Perth Amboy, Reynolds would have found a vast empty field where the refinery once stood.

Chevron, known decades ago as Standard Oil of California, had an oil refinery on its 330 acres near the Outerbridge Crossing in Perth Amboy, but the refinery has been shut down for more than a decade.

The only active refinery in Perth Amboy is owned by Amerada Hess.

Gurganus did not return phone calls yesterday, but Heidi Havens, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said, "We're not releasing any information or commenting" on Reynolds, who has not publicly been charged with terrorism.

Havens said she could not even "offer clarification" when told there was no Standard Oil refinery in Perth Amboy, only a Hess Oil refinery.

"We don't know where the Inquirer got its information," she said.

Perth Amboy Police Director Michael Kohut confirmed his department had been informed of the investigation into Reynolds by the FBI office in Newark, but would only say, "There is no danger to the Chevron property."

Kohut would not say when he first became aware of the investigation and referred all other questions to the FBI's Newark office. Steve Siegel, a spokesman for the FBI in Newark, referred all calls to the bureau in Pennsylvania.

No one from Chevron's corporate public affairs office returned phone calls.

Chevron still operates a liquid asphalt-making factory off State Street, but sold 27 acres in 2003 to Matrix Development Group of Cranbury, which built a $20million business park.

In May 2005, Perth Amboy signed an agreement with Morris Companies of Secaucus to build a $72million office and warehouse complex on the old Chevron refinery site, 70 acres located between Route 35 (Convery Boulevard) and Amboy Avenue.

As part of the project, Chevron and the Morris Companies are working together to accelerate the cleanup operations already under way on the property, including soil and groundwater remediation.

The new Amboy Corporate Center is expected to take three years to complete.

Carl Zeitz, a spokesman for Morris Companies, said the firm has not been asked to increase security on the property or told of any threats. He said construction should begin next month.

The refinery began as an asphalt production facility in the late 19th century and was expanded in 1950 to produce a full slate of oil products. At its height in the 1950s through the 1970s, the facility employed nearly 1,300 people and processed 170,000 barrels of crude oil a day, but Chevron began scaling back its production in 1983 and had closed the facility by 1993.
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Arcee · Feb 17, 2006

Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. Someone didn't do enough research on the target.

Zero Prime · Feb 17, 2006

Dumb ass

honestgabe · Feb 17, 2006

But if the 47-year-old Wilkes- Barre, Pa., man
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Oh, hes from Wilkes-Barre...that explain it, lol. Dumb motherfuckers in NEPA

Drake · Feb 17, 2006

Wow. That's some REALLY bad planning. He'd never make it as a part of the A-Team that's for sure.

The Phazer · Feb 17, 2006

Terrorists are idiots. Look at the second attempted set of suicide bombers on the London underground. If you were going to blow youself up, you'd at least check the explosive was still, well, explosive before you went, wouldn't you?

Morons.

Phazer

BigPrime3000 · Feb 17, 2006

The Phazer said:

Terrorists are idiots. Look at the second attempted set of suicide bombers on the London underground. If you were going to blow youself up, you'd at least check the explosive was still, well, explosive before you went, wouldn't you?

Morons.

Phazer
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If they tested every bomb before they used them then they wouldn't have any bombs to use for their terrorism. THAT would be stupid.

Weirdwolf · Feb 17, 2006

honestgabe said:

Dumb motherfuckers in NEPA
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TELL me about it. I married one...

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Man plans to blow up Refinery that hasn't existed since 1993

DevilzFan CobraIsland.com Veteran

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Man plans to blow up Refinery that hasn't existed since 1993

DevilzFan CobraIsland.com Veteran

Arcee Optimus Scourge Forever TFW2005 Supporter

Zero Prime Windows user no more

honestgabe I

Drake Smooth Is Smooth Baby

The Phazer Well-Known Member

BigPrime3000 Well-Known Member

Weirdwolf TFYLP Podcast Founder TFW2005 Supporter

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