City Seeks Bomb-Proof Garbage Cans For NATO/G8 Summit
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Ahead of the NATO/G8 summits in May, the City of Chicago is reportedly looking to buy bomb-resistant trash cans.
As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, back in September 2010, would-be terrorist Sami Samir Hassoun placed what he thought was a bomb in a garbage can near Wrigley Field.
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In New York City, police remove downtown trash cans as a matter of routine, to prevent them from becoming bomb bins.
Now, the Chicago Sun-Times reports the City of Chicago is asking contractors for bids on more than 50 bomb-resistant trash cans.
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications specifies that the cans would have to be capable of withstanding the explosive force of 6 pounds of pure TNT, the Sun-Times reported.
A mayoral aide tells the Sun-Times the new trash containers would be placed in what she calls "high-risk areas."
But deputy mayoral press secretary Jennifer Hoyle tells the newspaper that the purchase is a "replacement contract," and that the city already has bomb-proof garbage cans.
A year ago, since-retired Mayor Richard M. Daley awarded a $2.5 million contract to the firm Big Belly Solar, the Sun-Times recalled. The city then replaced many of the black metal outdoor wastebaskets that had been found on city streets with solar-powered trash compactors.
The summits will be held at McCormick Place from May 19 to May 21.
