Radical environmentalists linked to arson attacks
Date: 24-May-01
Country: USA
Two firebombs simultaneously gutted the University of Washington horticulture center in Seattle and the Jefferson Poplar Farms nursery near Portland, Oregon, on Monday prompting suspicion that the ELF or other radical groups were to blame.
"It looks like the type of action the Earth Liberation Front would engage in. It's similar tactics, possible targets," said Leslie Pickering, who identified himself as a spokesman for the group. "But so far there has been no official claim of responsibility. That could take up to a week."
The Seattle fire caused about $2 million in building damage and botanists said they also lost years of research on topics ranging from wetland restoration to endangered species protection.
No one was injured in either blaze.
Police and FBI officials have said the letters "ELF" were spray-painted on a wall at the Oregon farm as well as the message "You Cannot Control What is Wild."
The ELF has claimed responsibility in the past for arson and vandalism at a ski resort in Colorado, a housing development in Long Island, New York, and an attempt last month to burn down a Nike Inc. outlet store in Minnesota to protest use of "sweatshop" labor.
Police and fire officials declared the fires in Washington state and Oregon the result of arson, noting the presence of sophisticated timing devices, and said they were investigating a possible connection.
Both sites have been hit by vandals before, including graffiti and destruction of trees labeled "bioengineered" by activists.
"The risk of genetic pollution getting released into the environment is potentially devastating," Pickering said, adding that any wildlife conservation data lost in the Seattle fire would be a minor concern.
"Whatever was lost in that particular building is microscopic compared to what could happen if genetic pollution gets released into the natural environment," Pickering said.
