Officials examine damaged power line

[TexasStooge]

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

Dallas police, the FBI, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spent Wednesday afternoon investigating damage to a high-tension power line near White Rock Lake.

One of the four legs on the TXU high-voltage tower at Fair Oaks Park was broken at the base, and a section of metal had snapped off about six feet off the ground.

A maintenance worker discovered the damage around 11:00 Wednesday morning while cutting the grass along the power lines' right-of-way.

"We're not ruling anything out," said the FBI's Lori Bailey. "It could be the result of stress and structural damage; it is possible it could have been the result of an improvised explosive device, but at this point we have not recovered any evidence that would lead us to that absolute conclusion."

TXU officials said the tower would be braced to make sure it was not in any danger of collapsing.

"The tower is OK the way it is - we are going to brace it up," said TXU's Rand LaVonn. "Crews are standing by right now so they can come in as soon as authorities let them, and they will brace it up to make sure that nothing happens until they can bring in crews to put it back the way it was."

Officials said another possible cause could be metal fatigue caused by soil erosion, possibly a result of frequent rains over the summer and early fall. Since the tower is in a somewhat remote area, such a problem could have gone undetected until today.

Law enforcement officials could be seen Wednesday taking pictures and collecting debris at the base of the tower, located in the White Rock Creek flood plain just east of Presbyterian Hospital.

[BEER980]

There has been a good bit of tower damage nationwide over the last 6 months. Most of it was the removal of the nuts & bolts holding the leg sections.