avroair Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Just a reminder to people that since the Homeland Security laws have taken effect to be careful about placing caches under or near gas pipelines and powerlines. If my Greenman cache is any testament: I placed the cache on Sunday, February 15 in a small secluded swamp parkland with a clearly marked trail. I had researched the area and found it to be a public park with the Lenapee Trail running thru it. Off I went to place my exciting cache. After approval the first cacher who tried the cache was seen by a nearby office worker who called the police to report suspicious activity. The police arrived and found the cache without a GPS unit (pretty impressive!). They called in the bomb squad who used a robot to open it. I was contacted thru geocaching.com to come down to the Police Station since the state were filing charges. Oh my gosh!!! I was in a panic and left work early. I brought my mum with me (I am 30 and married for 5 years, but I figured a little old English lady couldn't hurt my cause). I sat there for 30 minutes and was finally interviewed by a detective. Apparently, my little patch of public, county land happened to be near highly sensitive government builidings, 4th largest powergrid in NJ and a gas pipeline to boot. I got off with no charges (although my wife later liked the idea of deporting me back to London), and I signed a testament never to place foreign objects back in that area. The dectective returned the cache to me, (I was a little disappointed the bomb squad hadn't signed my log!). PS: I understand that any more caches placed in that area will automatically be graded a 5/5 due to the high risk of outrunning the law and the heart rate a geocacher might expect to go along with this endeaver! All humor aside. Just a reminder to think before placing a cache in that oh-so-prefect spot and research the area thoroughly first. Quote Link to comment
+scoobydooers Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Cool, the only thing worse than this would be if I were the one logging the find at the time the cops were called. Quote Link to comment
+MissJenn Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 ... I figured a little old English lady couldn't hurt my cause ...I will be asking for a a raise next week. Is she free on Tuesday at 10am? Seriously, I'm glad this situation ended up as well as it did and not any worse! Quote Link to comment
avroair Posted March 2, 2004 Author Share Posted March 2, 2004 The person logging the find: that distinction would go to Bee Gees. His half of the story was alot scarier : Quote Link to comment
+haggaeus Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 (edited) I hope this paranoia doesn't apply to pipelines/powerlines in well established hiking areas (like this Pipeline Cache) Edited March 2, 2004 by haggaeus Quote Link to comment
avroair Posted March 2, 2004 Author Share Posted March 2, 2004 I think it was more for the power grid 1/2 a mile away. But it only takes one person to make the call. Apparently, but the end of the afternoon the building had evacuated 3 times. There were reports of anthrax, reports of a bomb exploding and reports of Barry Manilow cds being found in the cache... talk about playing the game Telephone! Quote Link to comment
+The BeeGees Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 The person logging the find: that distinction would go to Bee Gees. His half of the story was alot scarier : I wouldn't say it was scary. It was more of a feeling of nervous embarrassment. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...5-7D850024760F} I was standing in the parking lot flanked by 2 police cruisers while people gawked at me on the way to their cars and peered at me through the office windows. As I told one of the police officers, the worst part was that I couldn't log this as a find. (the bomb squad had the cache). The good news is that the new "Green Man Lives" is a better cache. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 (edited) Anything in the local newspapers about it? Hey, could have been mine. I scouted out that very area for a cache some time ago. There was some construction going on at the time nearby, so I nixed it, but thought the spot had potential and was happy when Avroair's cache popped up there. Oh well... I hope this paranoia doesn't apply to pipelines/powerlines in well established hiking areas (like this Pipeline Cache) I don't think that cache would be an issue. It's fairly remote. Heck, they can't even keep the ATV's off that pipeline despite the signs prohibiting them. Edited March 2, 2004 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
avroair Posted March 3, 2004 Author Share Posted March 3, 2004 Thanks for your kind words Bee Gees. Quote Link to comment
+bob393 Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Wow, That must have been a horrible experiance. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 So if they move the pipeline does the note you signed become null and void? Quote Link to comment
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