Oak Ridge Today

Clinton man charged with trespassing after crashing car at Y-12, fleeing from officers

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Timothy D. Preston

Timothy D. Preston

A 34-year-old Clinton man was charged with aggravated trespassing after allegedly driving through the east gate at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday, crashing near a parking lot area, and then fleeing on foot into a heavily wooded area inside the nuclear weapons plant, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 5:52 a.m. Thursday after a person, later identified as Timothy D. Preston, 34, of Clinton, drove through the east gate of Y-12 near Scarboro Road.

Y-12 security and Oak Ridge police officers responded immediately and established a containment area inside and outside the perimeter of the facility, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

Preston was taken into custody at about 7:40 a.m. and transported to the Methodist Medical Center, where he was treated and released for minor injuries, the press release said. He was interviewed at the Oak Ridge Police Department and then transported to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, where he was charged with aggravated trespassing, trespassing by motor vehicle, felony vandalism, and driving on a revoked license (third offense). [Read more…]

FBI investigating report of possible trespassing at ETTP

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East Tennessee Technology Park

The East Tennessee Technology Park is pictured above as it looked before most of the U-shaped K-25 building, center left, was demolished. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

The FBI is investigating a report of a man possibly trespassing at the East Tennessee Technology Park on Thursday evening, but so far, they said, it doesn’t appear he posed any danger to the former uranium-enriching site.

“I can tell you right now that there is no indication that this incident involves any kind of threat to the facility or to national security,” said Marshall Stone, supervisory special agent in the Knoxville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [Read more…]

Peace group wants fence removed from longtime Y-12 protest area

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Y-12 Fence on Scarboro Road

The temporary fence erected at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex encloses an area, pictured above, that has been used for protests and vigils for years. An Oak Ridge organization that wants to eradicate nuclear weapons has asked a federal court to order the removal of the fence before an Aug. 6 ceremony.

Calling it an assault on their First Amendment rights, an Oak Ridge organization has again asked a federal court to order officials to remove a fence that blocks an area long used for protests, vigils, and demonstrations in front of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which opposes Y-12’s nuclear weapons production work, filed the preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Friday. The lawsuit, which amends a complaint filed in April, names new U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz as the sole defendant.

OREPA wants the U.S. Department of Energy to reopen a small grass field near Y-12’s main entrance at East Bear Creek and Scarboro roads before an annual Aug. 6 demonstration. If it is left in place, the temporary fence erected April 1 would cause “irreparable harm” to First Amendment rights—including the rights of free speech, peaceful assembly, and the ability to petition the government for a redress of grievances, OREPA said. [Read more…]

Responding to traffic delays, Y-12 asks for volunteers to start work later beginning July 8

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Y-12 National Security Complex Traffic

Responding to morning traffic delays, particularly at its east entrance on Bear Creek Road, the Y-12 National Security Complex has asked some employees to volunteer to start their work day later after July 8.

Responding to morning traffic delays at its entrances, the Y-12 National Security Complex has asked some employees to volunteer to come into work later in the day starting July 8.

Significant traffic delays have been an issue since a lost driver who did not have a badge or permission to be at Y-12 said she was waved into the nuclear weapons plant on June 6.

Since then, Y-12 officials have said the plant has changed its approach to checking badges at the east and west gates. The more rigorous security checks are “here to stay,” B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer said in a June 27 message to employees.

But the new procedures have led to traffic delays, particularly at the east entrance between 5:15 and 6:15 a.m., when vehicles can back up as far as the former Dean Stallings Ford on South Illinois Avenue. [Read more…]

Y-12 security failed to follow procedure, allowed driver to enter site, NNSA says

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Security Officers at Y-12 East Gate

Security police officers stand guard during an August 2012 peace protest at the east gate and main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads.

Police officers at the Y-12 National Security Complex failed to follow established procedures when they allowed an Oak Ridge woman who did not have permission to be at the nuclear weapons plant to drive through the main entrance at Scarboro Road on Thursday morning, federal officials said.

Brenda L. Haptonstall, 62, told Oak Ridge police she was looking for a new, low-cost apartment complex and followed morning commuters through the east gate at the Y-12 National Security Complex at about 6:10 a.m. Thursday.

An Oak Ridge Police Department report said Haptonstall drove unhindered through the plant before she was stopped by security officers at the west gate. Haptonstall told ORPD Officer Roy J. Heinz that she thought there must have been a crash at Y-12 because there were “nice officers waving her through with illuminated flashlight cones,” the report said. [Read more…]

Guest column: New fence was needed to improve Y-12 security

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Much has been made of the decision at the Y-12 National Security Complex to improve security by extending one of our security fences. As the president and general manager of B&W Y-12, the management and operating contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration, I believe it’s important that a few of the facts surrounding this change be understood.

In case you haven’t been following this matter, we moved the boundary fence (also known as the 229 boundary) closer to our main entrance. This was done in response to recent trespassing events at Y-12 in order to strengthen our security posture. The response to this decision has been overwhelmingly positive among the vast majority of the people who take interest in Y-12’s operations. We are gratified by that support. [Read more…]

Trespassing at Y-12 costs U.S. government thousands of dollars, NNSA says

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There is a greater threat of trespassing at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the National Nuclear Security Administration said last week when it announced plans for a new fence that would block a traditional protest area at the plant’s main entrance.

And the costs of responding to those threats are increasing, the NNSA said.

“Responding to these illegal acts of trespassing has cost the U.S. government thousands of dollars of additional expenses above and beyond what we have to spend to protect the plant during major protests,” the NNSA said in a statement released by spokesman Steven Wyatt on Saturday. “The security-related costs required to respond to protests is very large, but we cannot discuss our specific costs.” [Read more…]

Y-12 fence that blocks protest area to remain up for now; judge questions lawsuit jurisdiction

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Y-12 Fence on Scarboro Road

The temporary fence erected at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex encloses an area, pictured above, that has been used for protests and vigils for years. Despite a court challenge Friday, the fence will stay up for now.

KNOXVILLE—The temporary fence that blocks a traditional protest area at the Y-12 National Security Complex will stay up for now.

A group that has used the grass field and small parking lot for protests and vigils near the Y-12 entrance at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads had sought to have the fence removed before an annual spring demonstration on Saturday. Workers started erecting it on Monday.

But the arguments about the fence and its alleged violations of the protesters’ First Amendment rights took a surprise turn in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Friday.

District Judge Curtis L. Collier quickly raised a question about whether the court has jurisdiction to address the complaint filed Wednesday by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, its board members, and people affiliated with the nonprofit organization. [Read more…]

Workers erect fence around Y-12 area once used for protests

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Y-12 Fence

After several recent trespassing incidents, workers put up a new temporary fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Monday. An Oak Ridge peace group objects to the fence because it encloses an area traditionally used for protests.

Workers started erecting a temporary fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Monday, enclosing an area that has traditionally been used for protests by an Oak Ridge nonprofit group.

Federal officials said they are installing the fence along Scarboro Road after three trespassing incidents involving five people in the past year. In one of those incidents, three anti-nuclear weapons activists penetrated a high-security area and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

On Thursday, the National Nuclear Security Administration said recent events have shown a greater threat of trespassing, and the response costs are increasing. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge peace group has vigil today despite plans for fence at Y-12

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The government’s decision to erect a new fence in front of the Y-12 National Security Complex could affect plans for an annual spring demonstration next Saturday, but the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance announced it will have its weekly Sunday vigil today.

The group said the decision by the National Nuclear Security Administration to close off the area immediately outside the Y-12 gates at the intersection of East Bear Creek and Scarboro Roads is “aimed at preventing demonstrations and peace vigils by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and others.” [Read more…]

Y-12 to install new fence to reduce trespassing

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OREPA Protest at Y-12 National Security Complex

A new fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex would enclose this field near the entrance at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads, and the nonprofit organization that organizes demonstrations and vigils here plans to challenge the fence.

After three trespassing incidents involving five people in the past year, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced plans on Thursday to extend the boundary fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex along Scarboro Road.

The new fence will be relatively close to the road, an NNSA spokesman said. A field traditionally used for protests near the Y-12 sign at the entrance on Bear Creek Road would be behind the fence. The new fence would run along Scarboro Road from Bear Creek Road to New Hope Road, and it would also enclose New Hope Center, which is often used for public events.

The new fence, which would run along the U.S. government property line, is expected to be in place by April 4, the NNSA said.

“Events of the past several months have shown that there is a greater threat of trespassing on the site, and the costs for responding to this threat are increasing,” the NNSA said in a Thursday afternoon press release. “Y-12 is taking conservative and appropriate measures to make such illegal actions more difficult.” [Read more…]

Y-12 protesters ask court to dismiss sabotage charges

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Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above allegedly cut through fences and vandalized a high-security building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and now face federal charges of property destruction, property depredation, and injuring national defense premises. From left to right the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

In one of a series of motions last week, the three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 asked a federal court to dismiss the new sabotage charges filed against them in December.

Attorneys for the protesters—anti-nuclear weapons activists Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael R. Walli—said the new charges, which could add up to 20 years in prison, are unconstitutional, vindictive, and selective. They said the new charges were brought because the defendants earlier refused to plead guilty to less serious crimes.

In addition, the sabotage charges are rarely applied to civilian conduct and should not have been used in this case because Y-12 is a private contractor site and not a military base, the four attorneys for the protesters said in a motion to dismiss filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Friday.

[Read more…]