Thread: Sheriff: Illegal arrested at Palo Verde nuke plant

Sheriff: Illegal arrested at Palo Verde nuke plant

by KTAR Newsroom (July 14th, 2011 @ 1:39pm)

PHOENIX -- An illegal immigrant breached security and entered the Palo Verde Nuclear plant west of Phoenix, according to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

"We have arrested an illegal alien who has penetrated and gone into the Palo Verde nuclear plant," Arpaio said Thursday, adding that he is outraged at another example of the lack of security along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Arpaio said he would release more information later Thursday about Wednesday night's incident at Palo Verde, which is the nation's largest nuclear plant. It is 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix.

http://ktar.com/category/local-news-art ... uke-plant/

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Worker with expired Mexican ID arrested at nuclear plant

by JJ Hensley - Jul. 14, 2011 02:09 PM
The Arizona Republic

A contract worker at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station was arrested Wednesday for trying to enter the plant one day after a guard barred the man from the site because his Mexican ID card was expired.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Mesa resident Cruz Loya Alvares, a construction contract worker at Palo Verde, on suspicion of criminal trespassing on a nuclear power station, a Class 4 felony.

According to court documents, Alvares, 32, went to work at the plant on Tuesday morning but a security guard prevented Alvares from entering the plant after noticing that Alvares' Mexican ID card was expired.

The security guard told Alvares he could not enter the plant grounds, about 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, until Alvares could provide a valid ID card, according to court documents.

Alvares returned on Wednesday morning and presented a security guard with an Arizona ID card that the guard found suspicious, according to court records. The guard allowed Alvares on the plant but took a picture of the suspicious ID with his phone and later showed it to a supervisor who called sheriff's deputies, according to court documents.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Alvares, who was working for DRP Construction, at the plant about 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to court records.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a statement that deputies had determined Alvares had illegally entered the United States and lived here for most of the last 15 years.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 14-ON.html

Worker caught working illegally at power plant in Phoenix

by Alicia E. Barrón
azfamily.com
Posted on July 14, 2011 at 2:21 PM
Updated today at 2:26 PM

PHOENIX – An employee at the Palo Verde power plant in Phoenix was arrested for working there illegally.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio says Cruz Loya Alvares, 32, was taken into custody Wednesday and questioned by detectives from the Maricopa County Sheriff Department’s Human Smuggling Unit.

Sheriff Arpaio said Alvares was denied access into the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Monday because his Mexican driver’s license was expired. When Alvares returned Tuesday, he was riding in the passenger’s side of a contractor vehicle and presented a United States-issued identification card and was granted entry.

Authorities at the plant later inspected the ID further and contacted MCSO.

"To some extent security at this nuclear power plant worked but still, an illegal immigrant was permitted to gain access to this facility,â€

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I’m assuming this illegal invader would have been allowed onto this property had his Mexican driver’s license been current. So I have to ask, why would we allow someone onto such a facility with a Mexican driver’s license and no government issued identification from this country?

Nuclear Plant Worker an Illegal Immigrant?

APS: Public's safety was never at risk

Updated: Thursday, 14 Jul 2011, 8:28 PM MST
Published : Thursday, 14 Jul 2011, 3:25 PM MST
by JULIE ROSE

WINTERSBURG, Ariz. - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he has arrested a man working at the Palo Verde Nuclear Plant for being in the country illegally.

32-year-old Cruz Loya Alvares was taken into custody Wednesday by sheriff's deputies and interrogated. Alvares allegedly admitted to being in the U.S. illegally for the better part of the past 15 years.

Alvares was deported in 2000, but paid a human smuggler for re-entry into the U.S., Arpaio says. And last month, Mesa Police cited Alvares for driving on a suspended license.

According to MCSO, Alvares tried to gain access to the nuclear power plant on Monday but was denied because his Mexican driver's license was expired.

He tried again on Tuesday, this time as a passenger in a contractor's vehice. He presented an Arizona identification card and was allowed in.

When plant security examined his identification card some time later, they thought it might be fraudulent and called the Sherif's Office.

According to APS, Alvares had been on site over the past two weeks doing remodeling work at an administrative building.

Sheriff Arpaio says that two employees told him that drivers of contractor's vehicles can "vouch" for passengers if they don't have IDs on them.

"In post 9/11 times, 'vouching' for employees who contractors know little about is not good practice for a facility as critical as a nuclear power plant," Arpaio added.

Palo Verde is the nation's largest nuclear plant. Alvares worked for DRP Construction, who is sub-contracted by Palo Verde Nuclear Plant.

"He never had any kind of access to what we call the protected area of the plant, that's where all the nuclear reactors are located, that's where all the vital components are. He never had any access to that, the possibility of that happening is zero," says APS spokesperson Jim McDonald.

There's no evidence that Alvares posed a threat to the nuclear plant, but the fact he was able to slip in is raising serious security questions.

"We will take a close look at the episode, a very close look, and if changes need to be implemented they will be implemented," says McDonald.

Alvares is facing one count of criminal trespassing at a nuclear station. Additional charges are pending.

A statement from APS said in part:

At no time did the contractor have access to the protected area of the site, which is the inner security perimeter containing the reactor buildings and equipment important to the operation of the plant. Areas within nuclear power plants have multiple levels of security based on their significance. These security measures include armed security officers, physical barriers and detection zones, and a rigorous series of background investigations for individuals. Each increasingly more sensitive area of a nuclear plant requires higher and higher security clearance.

The primary purpose of the vehicle checkpoint is to search for weapons, explosives or other prohibited materials rather than to screen individuals. The driver of a vehicle seeking to enter the property through the vehicle checkpoint must present a valid government-issued ID and that individual can confirm identity for other individuals in the vehicle.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/cr ... -7-14-2011

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STATEMENT ON CONTRACTOR DETAINED BY PALO VERDE SECURITY

PHOENIX – Security forces at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station worked with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) yesterday to detain and arrest a contractor who used false identification to enter the vehicle checkpoint located at the outer security perimeter of the 4,000-acre property. The safety of the plant or the public was never in question.

The individual was a subcontractor who had been on site over the past two weeks doing remodeling work at an administrative building.

At no time did the contractor have access to the protected area of the site, which is the inner security perimeter containing the reactor buildings and equipment important to the operation of the plant. Areas within nuclear power plants have multiple levels of security based on their significance. These security measures include armed security officers, physical barriers and detection zones, and a rigorous series of background investigations for individuals. Each increasingly more sensitive area of a nuclear plant requires higher and higher security clearance.

The primary purpose of the vehicle checkpoint is to search for weapons, explosives or other prohibited materials rather than to screen individuals. The driver of a vehicle seeking to enter the property through the vehicle checkpoint must present a valid government-issued ID and that individual can confirm identity for other individuals in the vehicle.

On Tuesday, July 12, the contractor attempted to enter the vehicle checkpoint to report for work. He presented an expired Mexican driver’s license and was denied access to the site.

The contractor returned to the plant the next day, Wednesday, July 13, at about 5 a.m. He presented what appeared to be government-issued identification and was permitted to pass through the vehicle checkpoint and go to his work location.

However, Palo Verde security forces noted irregularities with the identification that led them to investigate its authenticity. They photographed the identification card and contacted MCSO. After MCSO informed Palo Verde security officers that the identification was invalid, plant security detained the contractor and turned him over to MCSO deputies for processing.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_ce ... lear-plant