Propane Tank Bomb Found Near Power Plant - Lewis Co. Wash.

Police are calling a homemade explosive device built out of a five-gallon propane tank in rural Lewis County a possible act of domestic terrorism.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says an employee for Transalta Power Plant found the propane tank with green and yellow wires coming out of it along a set of access tracks leading to the plant five miles northeast of Centralia.

The employee picked it up, put it on his flat bed truck and drove it back to his supervisor who then called 911.
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The sheriff’s office says the wires appear to be similar to those used in electrical blasting caps.

A Washington State Patrol bomb squad was called in and the blasting cap was removed. The state patrol said it had been activated, but for some reason, the powder inside had not detonated.

Train cars bring coal to the plant for processing. Transalta managers say they have not received any threats, so who is responsible is a mystery.

A Washington State Patrol bomb squad says the blasting cap was activated, but for some reason, the powder inside did not detonate.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield says besides the obvious damage and deaths that could have occurred had the bomb gone off, there is another thing that concerns him about what happened Wednesday.