Federal officials would not comment and company executives were not immediately available to comment Thursday morning on why there appeared to be roughly a dozen agents and police at the Berthold Technologies building on Midway Road in south Oak Ridge.
It wasn’t clear exactly which agencies were at the business. Some wore black jackets with lettering on the back that said Federal Agent and at least had one with lettering that said Police. The agents were seen entering and leaving Berthold Technologies through a few doors in the single-story building, and also going in and out of a large warehouse or garage area at the rear of the building.
It wasn’t clear if any employees were at the building. Oak Ridge Today was not able to reach anyone by phone at Berthold Technologies or to immediately reach the general manager listed on the company’s website by email.
The Oak Ridge company is a subsidiary of Berthold Technologies GmbH and Co. KG in Bad Wildbad, Germany. Oak Ridge Today was also not able to reach anyone in Germany on Thursday morning through email or by phone.
An agent at the scene from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General referred a reporter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Knoxville for comment.
But a spokeswoman at the U.S. Attorney’s Office was not immediately available for comment Thursday morning. In the past, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has said its policy is to neither comment on, nor confirm or deny, the existence or status of a pending investigation.
On its website, Berthold Technologies describes itself as a high-tech company with three distinct business units: process control, bioanalytic, and radiation protection.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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