FBI makes arrest in depot bomb threat

This story was published Thu, Mar 9, 2000

By Mike Lee
Herald staff writer

HERMISTON - Just after bomb squads again swept through the Umatilla Chemical Depot on Wednesday, the FBI arrested an Eastern Oregon man in connection with a bomb scare the day before.

Jay D. Hysong, 28, of Billings, Mont., was arrested Wednesday afternoon without incident at his home in Stanfield. The former construction worker at the depot is suspected of phoning in a threat to the depot Tuesday, according to the FBI.

"Hopefully, they have solved this problem," said depot Commander Lt. Col. Tom Woloszyn. "And I hope furthermore that anybody else who would consider this as an option learns a lesson that we take this seriously and that the FBI will be involved."

Woloszyn said the key clue to finding the caller was a message left on an answering machine.

Hysong, who is being held at the Umatilla County Correctional Facility, made a court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Pendleton. Making bomb threats is a felony that carries a possible penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine, under federal law.

"This is an area that is potentially very dangerous," said Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, who was on a scheduled tour of the depot Wednesday. "This is a serious crime, and it should be dealt with that way."

The FBI said it's not clear whether the recent string of threats - including one Feb. 28 - is connected. Nor could the agency provide much information about Hysong or his alleged motives.

Woloszyn, who suspects the threats are related, said Hysong was a former construction worker of a subcontractor at the depot. It wasn't clear Wednesday if Hysong was part of the round of recent layoffs at the incinerator construction site.

With construction more than 75 percent complete, Raytheon, the company hired to build and operate the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, is starting to scale down its work force. By the end of summer, about 800 workers are expected to be cut.

The news of an arrest relieved some tension among depot workers.

"It's a relief knowing that the employees are not in a dangerous situation," depot spokeswoman Margo Herd told The Associated Press.

The depot, seven miles west of Hermiston, stores more than 220,000 munitions and containers filled with 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents. The Army plans to start incinerating the weapons in October 2001.

Incinerator construction workers have been on edge for months because of various incidents, including a false emergency warning siren, concerns over Y2K computer issues and previous minor chemical leaks. In addition, on Sept. 15, three dozen workers were sickened at the site when they breathed fumes that may have included pepper spray.

And Wednesday's bomb threat was the third in 10 days, including two this week.

The threat Wednesday was called in about 7 a.m., and it spurred a three-hour search at the chemical agent disposal construction site. Bomb squads from the Oregon State Police and the Army Training Center in Yakima combed the site for explosives.

"These threats are not hoaxes, they are not jokes," Woloszyn said. "We take these very seriously."

Raytheon Demilitarization Co., the building contractor, sent home 800 craft employees shortly after the Wednesday threat. Two hundred administrative employees were evacuated but returned to work at 10 a.m. after their work area was cleared, according to an Army press release.

On Tuesday, the depot suffered a similar early morning threat that stopped work for two hours and sent officials scrambling for a suspect.

Woloszyn praised Raytheon and law enforcement agencies for handling the multiple evacuations smoothly - and he seemed glad that now they have a bit more practice working together outside of drills.

In the big picture, Woloszyn said the disruptions wouldn't delay the project much, if at all, because down times are scheduled into the work plan. However, he said, "It disrupts our tempo."

Today, Woloszyn said, will be business as usual. "The workers will be back on the site, and they have their work plans laid out."

 

Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.