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Builders group, FBI unite against ecoterrorism acts

Associated Press

SEATTLE – The FBI and the Building Industry Association of Washington said Tuesday they will begin offering $100,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of ecoterrorists.

Their main target: Earth Liberation Front, a shadowy group that has claimed responsibility for setting fires at construction sites in housing developments, calling attention to what its members see as the growing problem of suburban sprawl.

“While ELF used to spike trees and sabotage logging equipment, they’re now firebombing neighborhoods and burning down apartment complexes,” Lyle Fox, president of the building industry group, said in a news release. “ELF’s increasingly brazen attacks on urban targets have BIAW and the FBI worried that it is only a matter of time before someone is hurt or killed by ELF terrorists.”

The ELF did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

The FBI estimates that ecoterrorist groups have committed more than 1,100 crimes in the United States since 1976, causing about $110 million in property damage.

The building industry group claims ecoterrorists have caused nearly $8 million in property damage since 1996 in Washington state, much of it in housing developments. California has taken a $53 million hit, and Oregon has had more than $3 million in damage, according to the group’s estimates.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Seattle FBI office said it’s investigating several arsons and attempted arsons in Washington state over the past year and a half that have apparent ties to ELF:

•Fire destroyed two homes under construction in Snohomish County in April 2004, and incendiary devices were found at three nearby housing developments.

•A sign advertising lots for sale at a home construction site in Bellingham was burned in July 2004.

•An incendiary device failed to ignite at a home under construction in the east King County town of Sammamish in April 2005.

No one claimed responsibility for a March 2005 attempted arson in Remond, but the FBI said incendiary devices found at a housing construction site were similar to those found at sites where the ELF had claimed responsibility.