Fake Bombs Close Waterway

Two dummy bombs were found outside two petrochemical plants Friday, prompting authorities to shut down a ship channel on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.

The devices were discovered outside Marathon Oil and Sterling Chemical, said Texas City Mayor Chuck Doyle. The devices resembled bombs but could not be detonated, Fire Chief Gerald Grimm said.

Officials said the bomb threat was phoned in to an emergency operator Thursday night. The caller was a man who identified himself as part of an international terrorist group, Grimm said.

“They do represent and resemble, quite frankly, exploding devices,” Grimm said. “But they would not create a spark, a fire.”

After the discovery of the devices, the Texas City Ship Channel, a branch of the heavily traveled Houston Ship Channel, was closed early Friday afternoon. The waterway leads to a number of petrochemical plants in this city about 35 miles southeast of Houston.