Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)
Security officers at the Y-12 National Security Complex detained an Oak Ridge man riding a bicycle on the North Patrol Road Saturday afternoon.
The bike rider, Brent Lee, 39, of Normandy Road, was spotted by members of a Y-12 canine team performing a routine random patrol of the area, authorities said.
He was detained at 2:07 p.m. Saturday and turned over to the Oak Ridge Police Department on Scarboro Road, authorities said.
ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said Lee was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. He was cited and released.
The National Nuclear Security Administration said Lee did not enter the high-security area of the plant. However, as a precaution, the plant entered a heightened state of security, an NNSA statement said.
“Subsequently, extensive canine patrol sweeps were initiated,” the NNSA said. “No other trespassers were identified. With the completion of canine patrol sweeps, the plant has returned to normal operations.”
NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt said the bike rider was traveling west to east on the patrol road, but he wasn’t sure why the rider was there or where he was headed. He must have had to cross a barrier somewhere along the North Patrol Road, Wyatt said.
He said the canine sweeps lasted several hours as officers made sure it was an isolated trespassing case. Once that was resolved, the plant returned to normal operations.
The North Patrol Road is located on Y-12 property next to a fence that represents the official boundary and is clearly marked for no trespassing, the NNSA said.
“The fence is not considered a security fence and is intended to serve as visible demarcation for the federal property line,” the NNSA said.
The North Patrol Road is located away from the main production areas of Y-12, and it is frequently patrolled by the Y-12 protective force and canine patrols. Canine patrols are used extensively at Y-12 as a part of the overall security strategy for the plant, the NNSA said.
The trespassing incident comes about seven months after a highly publicized security breach at Y-12, when three anti-nuclear weapons activists cut through fences in the high-security Protected Area at Y-12, and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored. The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—face a May 7 trial in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
Note: This story was last updated at 6:12 p.m.
deichmans says
Isn’t that trail part of the North Greenway network? I think I may have ridden that area myself before…. It would be nice for Mr Wyatt to actually confirm whether or not the fence blocks the trail or if it was free access. If it was only a rusted old sign on the side of a trail, that hardly constitutes a “clear marking”….
Jason Allison says
No, it is not part of the North Boundry Trail. The road they are talking of is the road that runs on the Oak Ridge side of Y12 starting at the east end guard shack on Scarboro Rd. There are several areas that the road comes in close to some neighborhoods on the west end of Oak Ridge. If I’m not mistaken there’s just a post type gate across the road behind the guard shack.
Jason Allison says
All markers on the fences on the road are maintained regularly so it’s hard not to know you shouldn’t be there.
deichmans says
Thanks Jason — so this is the road by the Disc Golf Course on Tuskegee? I can see how it gets close to that neighborhood as well as Greystone Dr by the Country Club. I have ridden the area west of where N Patrol Rd terminates at the Turnpike (almost to the TN-95 split where there’s a trail that cuts south by Hembree Cemetery) but not this portion, so my mistake. Hope this all turns out well for Mr Lee, though — I think he’s a teacher at Linden Elementary and a good-natured, well-meaning person.
Jason Allison says
When I was a little younger we would go 4 wheeling in Whilshire and one of the trails follows the fence from the gravel portion of Tuskegee to the Country Club. If I had to guess this gentleman wasn’t trying to do anything wrong, maybe a little, lost, I’ll say. In this case I hope they don’t try to make an example.