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KTAR.com

Valley's Terrorism Risk Remains Low

POSTED: 7:44 am MST March 5, 2008

Since 9/11, terrorism has been a concern for people living in major metropolitan areas coast to coast, but a new study shows a low risk of vulnerability in the Valley.

With a nuclear power plant and one of the nation's busiest airports so close, the Valley would seem to be an easy target, but not so, says University of Arizona researcher Walt Piegorsch.

"Nuclear power plants and military facilities did not come up as high risk in our analysis," Piegorsch said.

Criteria used in this risk analysis include the region's social mix, exposure to natural hazards, and city infrastructure.

Areas in the high vulnerability zones are mainly port cities, with chemical plants or refineries, and have easy transportation targets like trains, tunnels and bridges. Piegorsch said the border doesn't even make the Valley a magnet for terror.

"We looked at the ones in El Paso and San Diego and that issue did not jump up as a concern," Piegorsch said.

The red zones include the Northeast to the South, then west through Texas.

The only city in the western U.S. with high vulnerability is Boise, Idaho.

To view the terror map, click here.

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