Posted on 09/30/2003 6:57:53 AM PDT by jwalburg
PLEASANTON, Calif. - A Friday morning explosion that damaged the corporate headquarters of a nutritional company - giving hundreds of employees an unexpected day off - is being looked at as possible domestic terrorism, officials said.
"We are investigating all possibilities at this time," FBI spokesman Anthony Montero told reporters.
The explosion at Shaklee Corporation caused only minor damage, but rattled a few nerves. It was the second such explosion outside of a Bay Area business in a month.
Police responded to the Willow Road office complex about 3:22 a.m. after 911 calls reported an explosion, said police Lt. David Spiller.
Investigators with the FBI, police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives flooded the 28-acre property and closed some roads in Hacienda Business Park. Officials learned a small device placed near south side doors broke some glass and damaged stucco, Montero said.
No one was injured, officials said.
Authorities established a perimeter around the area that was expected to last until 8 a.m. Saturday and sent about 50 FBI and ATF agents, firefighters, police and the Alameda County Bomb Squad to assess the situation.
Evidence technicians in head-to-toe white protective suits processed the scene, examining bomb remains in hopes of finding the person who made the device.
"We're going to have to take a look at it to see what we have," ATF spokesman Randy Haight said.
Officials brought in heavy trucks and dispatched agents to sweep the building for more explosives. They found none, officials said.
Friday's blast was being compared to two small explosions that temporarily shuttered Chiron Corp. last month in Emeryville.
Nobody was injured early on the morning of Aug. 28 when two explosives, thought to be pipe bombs with kitchen timers, exploded outside Chiron offices. The devices shattered windows and caused only minor damage.
An animal rights group calling itself the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying they were carried out "because Chiron has continued their murderous connection with Huntingdon Life Sciences."
No one has been arrested.
A spokesman for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA, a Philadelphia-based group dedicated to cutting off Huntingdon's financial lifelines, said Shaklee's parent, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Company, also is a well-known customer of the New Jersey laboratory.
SHAC spokesman Rick Simpson said Yamanouchi and its workers have been targeted in recent months by activists seeking to cut company ties to Huntingdon.
"We can't speculate," Simpson said. "But its possible there is a connection" between Friday's explosion and animal rights activists.
In early May, activists spray painted messages outside Yamanouchi's Palo Alto offices to warn its "support of HLS will not be tolerated," according to the SHAC Web site.
In 1997, the company asked Huntingdon to test an experimental compound designed to strengthen bones of those with osteoporosis.
Huntingdon came under fire after animal rights activists, which included some from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, claimed the lab planned to break the legs of 40 beagles in its tests. The dogs were later turned over to the American Humane Association after repeated protests.
Yamanouchi canceled the testing and by one account severed its ties with Huntingdon like a number of other companies. It was not clear Friday whether the company maintained any relationship with the lab.
Paula Wendell, the region's FBI assistant special agent in charge, said it was not known whether the Chiron and Shaklee incidents were linked.
"We don't know enough here to see if there's a connection between the two," Wendell said.
Agents interviewed people who heard the blast and planned to examine any surveillance tapes, she said.
No one had claimed responsibility for Friday's blast.
Bill Ihle, senior vice president of corporation relations for Yamanouchi, referred calls seeking comment about the explosion to Pleasanton authorities.
Ihle could not confirm that protesters had targeted Shaklee offices, as an employee told the Times.
"That is the very, very first time I have heard that," Ihle said in a telephone interview from his home in Oregon. "I have no knowledge of that."
Simpson said he did not know of any previous protests targeting Shaklee.
Speculation about a possible link got a little too specific for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, whose lawyer sent a letter Friday to Shaklee President and CEO William H. Williams demanding the company stop "making false statements about PETA."
"We got five calls from the media on Friday saying that someone high up at Shaklee was inferring, more than inferring, that it was PETA that was responsible for what happened," said PETA spokeswoman Lisa Lange.
Matthew Penzer, PETA's legal counsel, wrote in his letter to Williams: "Any suggestion that PETA is linked to violence against you is wholly untrue and is itself, therefore, unlawful."
Penzer noted the irony of the suggestion, given that PETA lists Shaklee on a list of companies that do not perform animal tests.
Jenifer Thompson, a Shaklee spokeswoman, said the employee who suggested PETA involvement "is not our spokesperson and does not represent the views of Shaklee Corporation. … Our legal department will respond directly to PETA," she said.
Whether the work of domestic terrorists, a disgruntled employee or one of endless other scenarios officials said were possible, the blast shook some workers.
"I'll be concerned coming in to work on Monday," said Monica Borba, of Manteca, a Shaklee customer service representative. "Is this going to happen again? Is someone going to get more of the building? I am very concerned."
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