How a possible sale of a portion of the Raytheon Co. will affect operations at the Umatilla Chemical Depot’s incinerator site – if at all – isn’t known yet, a company spokesperson said Thursday.

“It’s really premature to speculate to see what will happen with any particular sites or projects,” said David Polk, a spokesperson for the parent company of the contractor building the complex near Hermiston.

Documents made available to the East Oregonian this week show that Raytheon Co. is in discussions with an unnamed party for a possible sale, joint venture or spin-off of Raytheon Engineers & Constructors (RE&C). Raytheon Demilitarization Co., which is building the $604 million incinerator project, is housed under RE&C.

In its internal memos, Raytheon insists any actions taken toward its engineering component won’t affect any jobs under way, including the Umatilla incineration complex.

“I want to assure you that this announcement does not impact the work we’re performing,” wrote Shay Assad, the chairman and CEO of Raytheon’s engineering branch. “It’s business as usual. We remain fully committed to our customers on both existing and future projects.”

In an April 11 letter to employees, Raytheon Co. Chairman and CEO Dan Burnham wrote, “RE&C has growth potential within certain markets. However, the engineering and construction business is not central to Raytheon’s strategy. A sale, joint venture, or spin-off is in the best interest of Raytheon shareholders and RE&C.”

The actions stem from contractual problems at Raytheon Engineers regarding an unspecified international project. Burnham writes that Raytheon’s first quarter earnings will be down because of these problems, dropping shares by 15-20 cents per diluted share. A diluted share is one that has lost value because more shares have been issued.

Raytheon, based in Cambridge, Mass., develops defense technology and finds commercial uses for it. The company, which began making radio tubes more than 75 years ago, used World War II radar technology to create microwave cooking. It later developed the first guided missiles.

Raytheon, a company with more than 100,000 employees, is divided into eight branches, including Raytheon Commercial Electronics, Raytheon Aircraft Co., and Raytheon Engineers & Constructors.

Each branch encompasses several smaller units. Raytheon Demilitarization, for example, is under the umbrella of Engineers & Constructors.

More than 1,000 people work at the Umatilla incinerator site. Of those, 118 are employed by Raytheon Engineers and 204 work for Raytheon Demilitarization. The remainder are split between various craft workers and U.S. Army employees.

The complex, which is about 81 percent complete, will one day destroy the depot’s store of 3,717 tons of chemical weapons.

For more information about Raytheon, go to www.Raytheon.com