Terror Plot Thwarted at JFK Airport?

Four men have been charged in a terror plot to blow up jet fuel storage tanks at JFK Airport in New York City. One of the four may have worked at the airport:

According to NewsChannel4's Jonathan Dienst, sources said federal investigators have made arrests in an alleged terror plot on Kennedy Airport.

Four people have been charged. One is in custody in New York.

Sources said the plot involved a plan to blow up a jet-fuel pipeline at JFK setting off a potential massive explosion.

Law enforcement officials said the plot may involved a former airport worker.

This situation is developing, and a press conference is scheduled for this afternoon.

UPDATE:
Some background statistics on JFK Airport and the aviation gas facilities:

JFK has a total storage capacity of 32 million gallons. It features:
- 62 tanks in bulk storage and 40 tanks in satellite
- 50 miles of underground pipe
- Five piers
- Transfers of fuel to nine unit terminal buildings (UTB) through 28 separate fuel systems
- Fuel tank farms protected by high pressure foam systems
- More than one billion gallons of fuel were dispensed in 2002.

An attack on the fuel tank farm could lead to a major shutdown of air operations at the airport, beyond the initial need to close the airport to traffic due to the fire and smoke.

Aerial imagery of the airport here.

UPDATE:
Buckeye Pipe Line Company is a major jet fuel provider at the airport.

The NYT reports that three have been arrested and a fourth is still being sought:

Three people were arrested and one other was being sought Saturday in connection to a plot to set off explosives at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials close to the investigation said.

The plot, which never got past the planning stages, did not involve airplanes or passenger terminals, according to the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the arrests had not yet been announced.

UPDATE:
The FoxNews report indicates the target was a pipeline that feeds the JFK airport fuel tank farm:

Sources said the plot involved a plan to blow up a jet-fuel pipeline at JFK setting off a potential massive explosion.

Details were to be given out at a 1 p.m. news conference.

The pipeline takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

UPDATE:
Hot Air, LGF, and QandO are all blogging the developing situation.

UPDATE:
Don Surber wonders how the feds found out about the plot. Good question. I am betting that it was some astute civilian observer who noted something out of order and called in the feds who launched an investigation, much as the Fort Dix Six were discovered by a Circuit City store clerk.

UPDATE:
Identities of some of those involved have been made public:

A senior law enforcement official told FOX News that of the three arrests, one was in New York and two were in Trinidad. The New York suspect has been identified as Russell Afreitas, a former JFK employee who allegedly planned to attack the airport's fuel supply because he thought he could do more damage than attacking a passenger terminal. Afreitas is a Muslim U.S. citizen from Guyana.

In carrying out the alleged plot, Afreitas unknowingly recruited an FBI informant, and surveillance on Afreitas began.

One of the other suspects arrested in Trinidad was identified as Abdul Kabir, a member of Parliament of Guyana.

Very curious.

UPDATE:
The names of the four involved are: Russell Defreitas, Abdul Nur, Kareem Ibrihim and Abdul Kadir. Hot Air points out that there's one al Qaeda bigwig who has connections to Trinidad and has been itching to hit at the US for some time, though CBS claims that the four do not have ties to al Qaeda.

No, they have ties to another Islamic terrorist group, the Jamaat al-Muslimeen.

Via nj.com: CNN claims that the plot was a level below the Fort Dix plot in that no explosives had been purchased and no set date had been made for the attack.

UPDATE:
More detail on the steps taken by the plotters in furtherance of an attack:

The official said the plotters had conducted surveillance on giant jet fuel tanks at JFK and the Buckeye pipeline that runs from New Jersey to the airport. They had taken surveillance video of the targets and took it to Trinidad to review the tape, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrests were not yet announced.

UPDATE:
WNBC:

Sources said the plot involved putting explosives inside the fuel pipeline but realized that “it was not technically feasible.”

Other jihadis have attempted to put together terrorist attacks against other facilities around the country, including one that would have attacked the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge in order to destroy the bridge. That too was considered not a feasible way to destroy the bridge. However, it did raise concerns that someone might try again, and the anchorages for the bridge were made more secure.

The same jihadis involved in this current plot could just have easily decided to directly attack the tank farm or one of the points on the pipeline where it might cause serious damage to the surrounding area.

UPDATE:
Possible ties to al Qaeda after all?

FBI agents feared but never confirmed the three men accused of plotting to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York were linked to one of the most wanted al Qaeda leaders, Adnan Shukrijumah, known to have operated out of Guyana and Trinidad.

Officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com that they heard repeated references to “Adnan” during the extensive wiretaps conducted on the suspects’ telephone conversations, including calls to Guyana and Trinidad.

There is a $5 million reward for information on Shukrijumah, who officials consider extremely dangerous because of the years he spent living in the Miami area and his known ties to al Qaeda. Some of the 9/ll hijackers attended a south Florida mosque run by Shukrijumah’s now deceased father.

UPDATE:
Ed Morrissey points out there are possible ties to Germany, which for the observant among us, was where Mohammad Atta and the 9/11 gang set the wheels of that attack in motion.

Others blogging: Bill's Bites, Junkyard Blog, Suitably Flip, Jammie Wearing Fool, Counterterrorism Blog, Jay Tea at Wizbang, and Blogs of War.

UPDATE:
Here's a copy of the complaint. Strangely enough, none of the major left-leaning blogs have threads devoted to this subject. Very curious.

UPDATE:
The Justice Department also released a statement on the matter.