Police: Lost couple cut lock at Peach Bottom atomic power plant
A man and woman were charged with trespassing at the power plant in Peach Bottom. The facility says the couple were lost and were trying to find their way out.
A Chesapeake, Va. couple who got lost in Pennsylvania on Friday night drove up to the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station where they cut a chain at a fenced-in area, according to police.
Timothy Lee Stewart, 28, drove his red 1998 Dodge Stratus to an access road off of Lay Road where he came upon a "secured fenced-in area," according to charging documents.
That's where police said he cut a chain to a gate.
His girlfriend, Jenilee Jean Simpson, 33, told police she had been asleep when she woke up and saw Stewart cutting the lock off of a fence, documents state. She then claimed she went back to sleep.
At no time did the couple pose a threat to the plant, which is owned by Exelon, said Krista Merkel, a company spokeswoman.
"It seemed they inadvertently made it to our property and were trying to find their way back out," Merkel said on Saturday. "They thought the only way they could get back was to cut the fence."
Simpson and Stewart were on Exelon property the whole time and never made it to the plant's "vital" areas, Merkel said. She said that security was monitoring them while they were on plant property.
According to police, who say they consulted with security staff, the couple made it to a "highly security sensitive area where radioactive material is transferred from the main power plant."
A fence there surrounds a "smoke stack type structure," documents state. There is a nearby outbuilding, and if the couple had gone inside, the security staff would have placed the plant on lockdown with a "possibility of lethal force being used," documents state.
But Merkel said she was able to confirm Saturday that the couple had not made it to any areas where radioactive materials are transferred or stored. She said the couple didn't make it past any security officers who monitor all four sides of the plant constantly. Exelon owns 600 acres at the plant, not all of which are "vital" areas, she said.
Diane Screnci, a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, also said there was no threat to the plant or harm done to equipment.
"We believe that security at the plant is appropriate," Screnci said on Saturday.
Every nuclear plant is staffed with at least two NRC resident inspectors who watch things like work activity, Screnci said, adding that the inspectors may go in on Tuesday to go over the arrest and what happened.
Guards may use lethal force if someone with "malicious intent" tries to get into a plant's protected area, where equipment like the reactor and pumps are located, she said.
Pennsylvania State Police said they were dispatched to the power plant around 10:33 p.m. on Friday for a report of two individuals who had broken into the plant. Merkel said the plant security contacted state police.
The couple told police they were was driving from Baltimore to New York when they got lost in Pennsylvania, documents state. The couple was "very cooperative" and waited until police arrived, Merkel said.
Stewart told police he did not see two 'no trespassing' signs at the gate he allegedly cut. Police also say there are signs posted near the outbuilding.
A state police spokesman said Saturday he did not have information regarding the incident.
Stewart was charged with criminal trespassing, a second-degree felony, court documents state. Simpson was also charged with trespassing and possession of a controlled substance, documents state. She was allegedly found in possession of a small metal pipe, which police said smelled like marijuana. Simpson allegedly told police she smoked out of the pipe "a long time ago," documents state.
They were both taken to York County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail, the York County Sheriff's Office said. The prison records department could not be reached Saturday.