Terror Alert Sounds at Nerve Gas Depot

September 5, 2002

TOOELE, Utah — Officials at the Deseret Chemical Depot, which stores and destroys nerve agent, sounded a terrorist alert Thursday morning after a possible intrusion.


The alarm sounded at 9:24 a.m., and operations have been stopped. The possible intrusion was within the fenced area between the stored chemicals and the outer perimeter.

The depot is about 12 miles south of Tooele and 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

It stores chemical and nerve agents such as mustard gas. The depot has been destroying a stockpile of the deadly chemical weapons since 1996. Earlier this year the depot finished destroying the largest stockpile of sarin nerve gas in the United States.

A spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment or further information.

Wade Mathews, with the Toole County Emergency Management, said sheriff's deputies have setup a roadblock around the depot.

The Utah Department of Public Safety is using a helicopter to help look for the possible intruder. There have been no evacuations of the depot or surrounding areas, he said.

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