Chicago seeks 'blast resistant' trash cans

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CHICAGO, March 1 (UPI) -- In anticipation of hosting the NATO and G8 summits in May, Chicago is shopping for "blast resistant" trash cans, the city government says.

The city has issued a "request for quotations" to buy about 56 trash receptacles that "would protect people, facilities and assets from various explosion effects," an indication that a terrorism attempt during the conferences is acknowledged as a threat.

The document specifically mentions "bomb mitigation requirements" of the receptacles to minimize "various explosion aftermath including fireballs, energy overpressure and fragmentation, all of which will likely result from terrorist bombs," terminology used at the insistence of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communication, the Chicago Tribune said Thursday.

The trash cans will require the ability to contain and mitigate 6 pounds of TNT place within them, the document states.

Deputy mayoral press secretary Jennifer Hoyle downplayed the doomsday language but said the containers would be placed in "high-risk areas."