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.
"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.
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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