Weigh station closure called a ‘false alarm’

Officials are calling the closure of the northbound I-75 weigh station between Corbin and London last week a case of a “false alarm” after a radiation detection unit alerted authorities to a potential problem.
The weigh station, located at about the 33-mile marker, was shut down from 10:00 a.m. Friday morning until after midnight Saturday morning while officials from 14 different state and federal agencies tried to find out what set off the large detector.
“Anything that is electronic can malfunction,” said Brian Reams, Director of the Laurel County Division of Public Safety and Emergency Management. “There was nothing on the truck that checked out to be anything radiation wise. It could have been a gravel in a tire … it could have been any of about 10,000 things that set that off.”
Police and emergency management workers emptied the truck of its contents and scoured the tractor and trailer for any signs of illicit substances. Reams said nothing was found. The truck was carrying a load of clothing. It’s origin and destination was not revealed.
According to Reams, the truck and driver were eventually released. Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement led the investigation, but no one from the agency was available to comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Officials gave a press conference about the incident Friday afternoon, but provided few details other than interstate lanes would not be shut down.
A media release detailing the incident was promised, but never released.
Officials from Nucsafe, the company that designs and manufactures the radiation detection unites, were on site during the incident. Darin Rockey, plant manager for Nucsafe in Corbin, said he was at the weigh station “in a support role.”
“There is an explanation, but I’m not going to comment on what was found. This was an odd case,” he said. “Results are still being reviewed right now … what they are looking for and what these things are finding, there’s a certain amount of interpretation required.”
Rockey said a new verification technology now exists to double-check what the detectors find, but that it is not yet in wide use.
The stationary radiation monitors, which consist of two large panels that vehicles pass through, can be calibrated to detect some illegal drugs. Smaller, backpack size detectors can be used for the same purpose. Rockey would not say if the weigh station’s detectors were being used for that purpose.
“We provide the tools that they use. How they choose to deploy and use these tools, that’s up to law enforcement,” he said. “I know that’s not their focus.”