Troops guard the perimeter of the Deseret Army Depot after patrols spotted an apparent intruder in the secure zone Thursday. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune)
Posted on 09/06/2002 5:20:14 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
DESERET CHEMICAL DEPOT -- A black-clad intruder on foot came within a mile of the nation's largest stockpile of chemical weapons Thursday.
Then he disappeared into broad daylight.
That is about all Army officials know -- or are saying -- about a breach of security that appears to be the most serious in the history of the 60-year-old Deseret Chemical Depot, 12 miles south of Tooele.
Still, in a brief news conference Thursday afternoon, the Army attempted to put a positive spin on the incident, saying the public never was in danger and that security worked the way it was supposed to.
"I'm not embarrassed at all," said Col. Peter Cooper, the depot's commander.
The incident began about 9:20 a.m., when a pair of two-man Utah National Guard patrols in Humvees spotted a person in black clothing walking on "cemetery hill," a pioneer-era burial ground in the middle-north section of the 16-square-mile military reservation.
About 400 yards away, the patrols turned their vehicles toward the intruder, who fled west out of sight.
The heavily armed patrols were unable to confront or communicate with the intruder, Cooper said, or to ascertain the intruder's height or weight.
"We're not sure who he is or what he was," Cooper added.
After the patrols reported the intruder, the depot sounded a "terrorist alert," its first-ever, at 9:24 a.m., effectively locking down the chemical weapons depot, where more than 450 employees were working Thursday. Civilian and military emergency units mobilized to the alarm.
Tooele County sheriff's deputies set up roadblocks on State Roads 73 and 36.
Soldiers in full gear, on all-terrain vehicles and machine-gun-topped Humvees, were dispatched to the perimeters of the chemical depot as well as the nearby Tooele Army Depot, about 10 miles to the north.
By early afternoon, employees were allowed to exit the chemical depot.
Cooper had no explanation for how an unauthorized person appeared in a part of the chemical depot that is seldom frequented by authorized personnel.
There were no obvious signs that the approximately 8-foot barbed-wire fence surrounding the depot had been breached.
The colonel also could not explain how the person disappeared.
But Wade Mathews, spokesman for Tooele County Emergency Management, theorized the intruder could have hidden in the thick brush that grows along Ophir Creek or other annual streams that run through the depot.
"There is a lot of foliage in Ophir Creek, willows where he could be easily concealed," Mathews said.
Officials do not know whether the intrusion is an inside job or the work of an outsider. A daylong search of the vicinity surrounding the chemical depot provided no clues or abandoned vehicles, said Tooele County Sheriff's Lt. Lynn Bush.
Searchers with dogs, and at one point a helicopter, scoured the depot and its perimeter most of the afternoon and into the evening.
Despite the breach, Cooper said the public was never in harm's way because -- as far as they know -- the intruder never got closer than about a mile to "Area 10," the chemical storage grounds where nearly 14,000 tons, or 42 percent, of the nation's chemical weapons have been stored in earth-covered concrete bunkers.
An incinerator to dispose of the chemicals sits on one corner of the storage facility but is not in operation as crews retool it to accommodate VX nerve gas.
The incinerator, which began operating in 1996, already has destroyed all of the depot's stockpile of GB nerve agent. After it disposes of VX, it will destroy a stockpile of mustard gas, the last remaining chemical, and then will be disassembled.
Small amounts of GB vapor, which is essentially a powerful pesticide, can kill quickly by disrupting the central nervous system. VX is an oily nerve agent that sticks to the skin. Mustard gas causes severe burning in the respiratory system and blistering to the skin.
All of the chemicals are being destroyed in accordance with an international treaty banning such weapons.
Security around the chemical weapons' storage area and incinerator is tight, consisting of two high fences and electronic surveillance.
"We're confident [the intruder] is not going to get in the chemical area," said chemical depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth.
While life continued as normal in surrounding communities, news of the intrusion was met with some uneasiness.
"It could be scary," said Stockton resident Jolene Hurst, who was visiting the county bookmobile in town Thursday afternoon with her daughters. "You don't know what [the intruder's] intentions are . . . whether he was going to blow it up."
Or, for that matter, if he was.
Two humvee's 400 yards away, intruder within sight, on foot, and they lost him? That's just great. Absolutely outstanding performance. What a load.....
Depot back to normal after intruder scare
By Joe Bauman
Deseret News staff writer
Normal operations resumed today at Deseret Chemical Depot near Stockton, Tooele County, following a "terrorist alert," sweeps and heightened security triggered by the sighting of a possible intruder.
 Framed in barbed-wire fencing, Paul Goodwin, right, a security officer for the Deseret Chemical Depot, stands near a roadblock at the entrance to the depot.  Chuck Wing, Deseret News |
"We discovered that the person was no longer on the installation," depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth said Friday. "The sweep of the area and the search confirmed that."
No terrorist attack was launched, and local residents were safe, officials said. "It has turned out that this is just an intruder," said the depot's commander, Col. Peter C. Cooper.
But the sighting remains a mystery.
Thursday morning, four Utah National Guard soldiers spotted the person just inside the 7-foot barbed-wire fence that marks the depot boundary. The location was Cemetery Ridge, about a mile from the country's largest chemical weapons storage area.
"When the patrols turned toward that intruder, who was dressed in black, he ran off toward Ophir Creek," said Cooper, who briefed reporters Thursday at the nearby Tooele Army Depot.
"He never got close to the chemical storage area at all."
Cooper said four soldiers were in two separate patrols, "patrolling in the vehicle we call the Hummer (Humvee)."
The patrols were between 1,300 feet and 1,650 feet from the figure, too far to tell if it was a man or a woman. "There was no communications at all. Once the patrol turned toward him, he ran away," Cooper said.
At 9:24 a.m., for the first time ever, the depot sounded its "terrorist alert warning system." Military security, joined by Tooele County, state and federal law enforcement, began an intensive search with a helicopter, dogs and Humvees armed with machine guns. They set up roadblocks and scoured the depot.
Work halted, and employees reported to their supervisors. The depot was locked down until the afternoon, when nonessential personnel were allowed to return home.
 Army Col. Peter C. Cooper locates on a map the area where an intruder was spotted Thursday morning. Chuck Wing, Deseret News |
The search ended about 8 p.m., "and there were no additional sightings," Southworth said.
During the press conference, Cooper said, "At this time we cannot confirm an intruder. It has been a reported sighting only. We treat all incidents like this very seriously."
The storage area is surrounded by much stronger security than the outer fence. It has a tall double fence, with guards keeping watch.
How the intruder got inside the outer fence is a mystery, as no break was found in the wires. Also, Southworth was not aware of any vehicle being found that an intruder might have used.
Asked how an intruder could disappear after the first sighting, Wade Mathews of Tooele County Emergency Management said, "There's a lot of foliage out there." Ophir Creek is lined with willows, he said.
Southworth said it was impossible to know if the "intruder" actually was someone from the depot who was in the wrong area, but everyone on the depot was accounted for after the warning. The facility has 450 employees, plus military security whose numbers are not released, contractors and employees of the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.
The disposal facility, the Army's $1 billion incinerator, has been destroying the chemical weapons stockpile since 1996. It recently completed destruction of GB nerve agent, then suspended burning while it retools to destroy VX nerve gas weapons.
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