Trailer with 50,000 pounds of fertilizer MISSING - FALSE ALARM

WAGA-TV/DT Atlanta ^ | 2.18.04

[Lazamataz]

She is there. Go look for her. She has highlighted hair, two pierced holes on each ear, no tatooes and is skinny.

OMG! I saw her on last week's America's Most Wanted!!!!

*sigh*... my future bride.... wanted by Arizona, Indiana, and Laz.

[MD_Willington_1976]

ammonium nitrate also sucks up a ton of water...Add a little aluminium and around 5% fuel oil...put it in the hopper...mix mix mix...Oh did I say that out loud...actually I've seen this done before a college buddy has a mixer for his powder company...mixed up a few batches for the local quarry back in BC..

[RonDog]

Here is a SIMILAR story, from www.ajc.com:

Ohio Ammonia Leak Forces Mass Evacuation

By JOHN NOLAN
Associated Press Writer

PLEASANT PLAIN, Ohio (AP)--Someone trying to steal anhydrous ammonia from a fertilizer plant early Wednesday released a stinging cloud of the chemical, which also is used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, fire officials said.

No injuries were reported. About 300 residents were evacuated but most were allowed to return about an hour after a hazardous materials team closed an opened valve, Harlan Township Fire Chief Andy Mitten said.

The leak at the Southwest Landmark plant was reported about 4:30 a.m., officials said.

``It's definitely criminal activity,'' Mitten said.

Anhydrous ammonia is produced as a liquid farm fertilizer, but it's also a key ingredient in methamphetamine. Southwest Landmark, which has about 40 tanks that hold 300 to 400 gallons each of liquid ammonia, has had break-ins before, Mitten said.

A regional drug investigation task force took over the investigation, said the group's commander, John Burke.

Firefighters arriving at the plant found a thick, gray cloud floating about two feet off the ground.

Fire officials evacuated 280 residents from this southwest Ohio village, 25 miles east of Cincinnati, along with about 20 other families who live nearby. Ammonia vapor can burn skin on contact and cause fatal lung damage.

Fertilizer plants and farms are increasingly being targeted by thieves nationwide as methamphetamine grows in popularity. The liquid chemical costs about $245 a ton.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has called meth abuse the nation's fastest-growing drug threat.

___

On the Net:

Southwest Landmark: http://www.swlmk.com

AP-NY-02-18-04 1601EST

Copyright 2004, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[mhking]

Update from WAGA: Stand down. The missing cargo is the weed killer RoundUp.

[Lazamataz]

And so, the auction begins

I bid 50 Quatloos on the newcomer!

[mhking]

Word just came down that the missing "fertilizer" is the weed killer RoundUp. Can you pull this from Breaking News and change the title appropriately?

[Lazamataz]

Update from WAGA: Stand down. The missing cargo is the weed killer RoundUp.

But think of all the plants a terrorist could kill!! Whaddya, a specist????

[TBall]

50,000 lbs of RoundUp doesn't sound good either.

[Poohbah]

If you're looking for missing BS, try Washington DC.

[Apple_Hills]

Why pull it from breaking? It's stolen poison, isn't it?

[xJones]

Word just came down that the missing "fertilizer" is the weed killer RoundUp.

That could have been one of my relatives, in that case.:)

[bikerman]

something that big has to deliver them killer SUV`s

[hellinahandcart]

Word just came down that the missing "fertilizer" is the weed killer RoundUp

Fifty thousand pounds of RoundUp missing? I'm more scared of that than fertilizer.

[mhking]

Whaddya, a specist????

Yeah. A "humanoids only" club...

[mhking]

I'm more scared of that than fertilizer.

You a weed or something?

[hellinahandcart]

That could have been one of my relatives, in that case.:)

Let me guess-- they finally killed every last funny-looking green thing in their yard with the stuff, and now they wonder why nothing else is growing there either?

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

There have been waaay too many of these fertilizer thefts, IMO.

Here's an old article with a little information about amounts and such:

August 3, 1998

Blast Grade Ammonium Nitrate Stolen From Storage Bin in West Virginia

The FBI is offering a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those involved in the theft of 25 tons of ammonium nitrate from a farm supply company. The chemical is a common ingredient in chemical fertilizer; it is also the primary blasting agent in homemade bombs. According to U.S. Attorney William Wilmoth, the material stolen is of the type normally used as a blasting agent for commercial explosive, rather than as a fertilizer. The amount missing is about 10 times that used in the bomb that destroyed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. That blast killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others.

The Associated Press quoted Wilmoth as saying that it is unclear exactly when the chemical was removed from a bulk storage bin at Bruceton Farm Services in Bruceton Mills. The theft was reported to the sheriff's department Wednesday. The material was stolen from an elevated container under which trucks pull up for filling. Wilmoth said that access to the filling area "apparently wasn't very well secured."

Joint Effort to Recover the Chemical
FBI agents in Pittsburgh, together with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Maryland State Police and other law-enforcement agencies are trying to track down the missing material . FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dennis Lormel was quoted by AP as saying, "At this point, all we know is the ammonium nitrate is missing. Our main focus is to account for it. However, we are treating this with the utmost caution."

Simple Theft?
Agents have interviewed farmers, strip miners and construction companies, all of whom might have a use for the chemical—either as a fertilizer or an explosive. The FBI is currently working on the theory that no more is involved than simple theft. However, even if such is the case—and the material was not stolen by or at the behest of terrorists—the ease with which the theft was executed should set alarm bells ringing throughout the American counter-terrorist establishment. If an agricultural or construction firm could make off with such a large quantity of explosives grade material, a terrorist organization would certainly have no trouble doing the same.

Source: Associated Press

[Sender]

If it's really 50,000 lbs. they need to be on the lookout for a 53 ft. trailer

On I-75 that narrows it down to about a jillion trucks.

[xJones]

Let me guess-- they finally killed every last funny-looking green thing in their yard with the stuff, and now they wonder why nothing else is growing there either?

No, I was trying to make a joke in #71, and even put in the :) to hopefully make that understood.

After Oklahoma City, nobody takes fertilizer bomb threats lightly. We joke while waiting for further news because what else can you do?

[ElkGroveDan]

This doesn't bode well for this year's peach crop.