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Pawlenty pulls National Guard from nuclear plants, water treatment
March 26, 2003

While on a visit to Camp Ripley to meet cadets at the State Patrol's training academy, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced that the National Guard will pull back its security at the state's two nuclear power plants, and at two water treatment plants in the Twin Cities. (MPR Photo/Tim Post)

Monticello, Minn. — (AP) - Minnesota National Guard troops that were posted at nuclear plants and a Twin Cities water treatment facility last week as war began in Iraq will be withdrawn, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Wednesday.

Pawlenty and Public Safety Commissioner Rich Stanek toured Xcel Energy's Monticello nuclear power plant and pronounced it safe and secure. The National Guard was deployed at the sensitive installations last Wednesday, with Pawlenty citing concerns the war could serve as a "trigger point" for terrorist attacks. Pawlenty spokesman Dan Wolter said the Guard troops will remain at two oil refineries for the time being.

Security patrols at Monticello, Xcel's Prairie Island nuclear plant and will be picked up by local police and sheriff's departments, he said.

The governor said he and Stanek were confident that Monticello and its management company "have taken every reasonable step to make sure the facility is secure and is prepared, in case there were an intrusion, to repel an intrusion. And so we are feeling confident that they are well-prepared for the potential challenges that might come."

Pawlenty said he wanted to stress again that there was no credible immediate threat of terrorism anywhere in Minnesota.

Asked why some Guard members were recalled with the war only a week old and no change in the national security status, Wolter emphasized that the deployment was always intended to be temporary and was in part a safeguard while existing security was evaluated.

The full deployment cost $60,000 per day. Wolter said he did not know what the smaller deployment would cost.

Local police have taken over some of the security that troops provided at the nuclear plants and the water treatment facility.

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