Greeneville Sun March 01, 2014
Security Check Of Trucks Finds No Threats, But...
By Bill Jones
Federal, state and local law-enforcement officers diverted southbound trucks from Interstate 81 at the Tennessee Department of Safety's truck weigh station in western Greene County on Friday.
They searched some trucks for contraband and the possible presence of drugs, explosives or radioactive materials, but had found no dangerous materials as of 5 p.m. Friday, when the operation ceased, officials said.
As in the past, trucks carrying inter-modal shipping containers of the type that arrive in this country by ship, were one focus of Friday's inspections, officers said.
24 Citations Issued
THP Sgt. Jeff Anderson said late Friday afternoon that officers had issued 24 citations for a variety of offenses during the day-long series of truck inspections. During the day, he said, 2,475 trucks passed through the weigh station complex.
Despite the intense inspection effort, he said, no arrests were made.
In addition, Sgt. Anderson said, officers conducted 28 truck inspections, including 11 intense so-called 'level-one' inspections of trucks and their drivers.
During a level-one inspection, he said, trucks are checked inside and out and their driver's paperwork is screened to ensure that both the driver and the truck are in compliance with all laws.
As a result of the Friday inspections, Sgt. Anderson said, troopers placed six trucks and eight truck drivers out of service for assorted violations.
Also, Sgt. Anderson said, 'tax assessments' totaling $9,916.60 were made against the operators of trucks that were found to be over the prescribed weight limit.
Intent: Send A Message
On Friday morning, Jerry Stout, regional representative for the Governor's Office of Homeland Security, said the semi-annual truck inspection exercise was designed to help different agencies learn to better coordinate their efforts and to send a message to potential terrorists and drug traffickers.
Stout said agencies involved in the event, which began about 7 a.m. Friday, and was scheduled to conclude at 5 p.m. Friday, included:
* the Tennessee Highway Patrol,
* the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency,
* the Oak Ridge National Laboratory;
* the Tennessee National Guard 45th Civil Support Team,
* the Greene County Sheriff's Department;
* the Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad; and
* police bomb- and drug-detection dogs from Jefferson and Sullivan Counties.
Participating in the day-long event was a Tennessee Emergency Management Agency vehicle that featured radiation-detection equipment capable of sensing radioactive material inside trucks.
THP Lt. James McKenzie, who commands the weigh station, said on Friday afternoon, that the radiation-detection equipment was so sensitive that it detected the radium-painted dials on the tanker trailers of two trucks that were carrying propane.
'That blew our minds,' Lt. McKenzie said, noting that the radium paint on the propane tank quantity indicators had been picked up as the truck carrying the tanks passed by the TEMA radiation-detection vehicle that was parked in the grass beside the entrance to the weigh station.
He noted that as of about 5 p.m. Friday, no other radioactive material had been detected.
Officers said that should personnel inside the TEMA vehicle detect radiation being emitted by a truck, specially trained Weapons of Mass Destruction 45th Civil Support Team members would be called upon to closely inspect the truck.
The GlobalSecurity.org Web site notes that 'WMD Civil Support Teams were established to deploy rapidly to assist a local incident commander in determining the nature and extent of an attack or incident; provide expert technical advice on WMD response operations; and help identify and support the arrival of follow-on state and federal military response assets.'
The mission of Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) 'is to support local and state authorities at domestic WMD/NBC incident sites by identifying agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with requests for additional military support.'
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