'Credible bomb threat' evacuates energy lab in Albany

Albany, Ore. — (KGW) The National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Albany site has been evacuated due to a “credible bomb threat,” according to a U.S. Department of Energy press release.

Law enforcement officers are investigating at the site, at 1450 SW Queen Ave., where the threat was received at about 8 a.m., according to spokesperson Shelley C. Martin.

“Somebody called and said, ‘There is a bomb on your site,’ and that was sufficient for us to take action,” she said.

The lab employs about 46 federal and 80 contractor employees, but not all of them work on site.

A joint information center has been setup at the Albany Public Library. A press briefing is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Martin said any further information will be released on the lab’s Twitter feed.

The laboratory provides cutting-edge research and technology and manages contracted research in the U.S. and more than 40 foreign countries, according to the NETL website.

The Albany site has multiple research laboratories including an alloy fabrication lab, which involves exposing metals to intense heat; a high-pressure immersion and reactive transport lab, which recreates conditions found 10,000 feet underground; and a mechanical testing lab that tests how much pressure it takes to compress and stretch materials found in fossil energy systems.