Calif. School Seeks Aid To Flee 'Triad of Terror'

By Drew Lindsay

Earthquake-evacuation drills at Castaic Elementary School in California offer few sure routes out of what school officials there call the "triad of terror."

Sitting about two miles from the base of the dammed 323,000-acre Castaic Lake, the school's campus is also threaded by high-voltage power lines and underground crude-oil pipelines. If a severe tremor were to strike--setting off fires in the pipelines or knocking down power lines--the school's 1,200 fleeing students could face fire, an electric minefield, or a wall of water.

The district's two-year quest for money to move the school out of harm's way, however, may be over. Federal officials said last week they may approve disaster assistance to relocate the school by the...