Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 1/5/11

A bomb threat shut down operations for 90 minutes on Monday at Tyson Foods’ Shelbyville, Tenn., poultry plant, according to a report by the Shelbyville Times-Gazette.

No one was allowed in or out of the plant during that time, in which company staff swept the facility but found nothing suspicious, the story says.

Last week, Tyson confirmed police were called in for extra security after threatening messages were written in the Shelbyville plant.

Tyson Human Resource manager Jeff Watson is quoted as saying a receptionist at the plant received a call at 1 p.m. Monday from a man who said, “There is a bomb in the plant.”

“We evacuated, did a complete search of the building” and called police “to have them stand by in case they were needed,” Watson is quoted as saying.

Workers returned to the line after having evacuated the facility for about an hour and a half. “We couldn’t find anything out of place,” Watson is quoted as saying.

Police Chief Austin Swing told the Times-Gazette that Tyson found a “suspicious package” in a box, but it merely contained a caulking gun whose owner was found.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson confirmed the report to Meatingplace. He noted in an e-mailed statement that the plant is back in operation, police are investigating and the company hopes the culprit is “found and prosecuted.”

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