OPINION
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Exercise proved
tighter security needed at depot
By KAREN SPEARS
ZACHARIAS
The two men who walked
into Hermiston’s Radio Shack on Wednesday, Jan. 7, weren’t dressed in black,
but they caught the attention of manager Libby Bovent nonetheless.
The men with identical shaved heads entered the store even before
Bovent flipped on the lights. She was working alone.
“It was a bad snow day. I’d called the employees and told them not
to come in,” she said.
The men immediately started peppering Bovent with questions, many
of them related to the Umatilla Chemical Depot: Did she have a police scanner?
Did it pick up much traffic from the depot? What was security like at the
depot?
Bovent’s husband had worked security at the depot before he died
from cancer at age 45.
Still, it wasn’t all those questions that triggered an alarm with
Bovent. It was the remark one of the fellows made.
“He told me he was from Florida,” she said. “That made me suspicious.
I didn’t know why somebody from Florida would be so interested in the depot.”
Before they left, the men bought an expensive hand-held scanner.
They also handed her a note with a phone number on it.
It was then that Bovent learned the fellows were conducting a security
exercise. She did as the note instructed and called Oregon State Police.
OSP and the Hermiston Police Department had been notified that an
exercise by the Army Material Command and Federal Bureau of Investigation
might take place someday. They just didn’t have a clue that Jan. 7 was that
day.
One of the goals of the exercise was to determine the vulnerability
of the depot to potential terrorism. The agents conducted a thorough mission
that included asking questions about flight restrictions over the depot.
Airport officials also reported the suspicious pair to local authorities.
The agents continued to travel about town, probing for information about
the depot until Oregon State Police finally put a stop to their shenanigans.
Lt. Darin Helman said despite it being a very busy day dealing with
adverse weather conditions, patrol troopers did an excellent job nabbing
the pair. Troopers tracked down the suspicious duo at a Hermiston motel within
a few short hours after state police received their first phone complaint.
“We took the complaints very seriously,” Helman said. “Our patrol
troopers went from motel to motel, town to town, looking for the vehicle
the men were said to be driving until they found it.”
Hermiston Police Chief Dan Coulombe said his office also received
a call from a leery airport official troubled by the duo. State police and
Hermiston police contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation immediately.
The FBI alerted Hermiston police that the two were part of a security exercise.
Coulombe said he was pleased with the response of his staff.
“We did exactly what we needed to do,” Coulombe said.
It appears our local law enforcement officials are on their toes.
“I’m confident in the response of our state police should any incident
occur at the depot,” Helman said.
Depot Commander Lt. Col. David “Doc” Holliday echoed that sentiment.
“I’m very pleased with the ability of the state police to track down
the individuals involved,” Holliday said.
Moreover, Holliday said he’s confident that the security processes
at the depot are reliable, even though the exercise revealed some weaknesses.
Secret agent men were able to bamboozle the depot’s security staff,
gaining access to the Emergency Operations Center and the incineration complex
where thousands of tons of sarin, VX and blister agent await destruction.
Regarding the breech in security at the depot, Holliday said, “There
are always areas for improvement. Lessons learned. If we did all the right
things all the time, there’d be no need for such exercises.”
Maybe Holliday isn’t worried, but Bovent sure is.
“Real terrorists wouldn’t come into this community asking a lot of
questions. They’d be well-trained and pretty savvy. We’d better beef up the
depot’s security,” Bovent said.
Thank you, Libby Bovent. I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
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Karen Spears Zacharias can be reached at 541.379.8572 or by e-mail
www.heromama.org.