Mock Drill in Hot Spring Riles Keystone Pipeline Opponents

HOT SPRING, S.D. (AP) - An emergency drill in Hot Springs has outraged opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline and a proposed uranium mine in western South Dakota after it portrayed the groups as domestic terrorists.

The Hot Springs School District on Tuesday practiced a lockdown after pretending to receive a letter from a group promising destruction unless the projects were stopped.

The school district and county have been bombarded with emails and calls about the drill from people who felt it unfairly demonized opponents of Keystone XL and a proposed uranium mine near Edgemont.

Farmer Don Kelley tells the Rapid City Journal he and others want an apology.

Fall River County Emergency Manager Frank Maynard says the focus was on the drill itself, rather than the fabricated threat, and no insult was intended.

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