Posted on 02/06/2011 7:13:31 PM PST by marktwain
Police say a 70-year-old farmer ventured into a nighttime blizzard to nab a would-be fertilizer thief.
(Excerpt) Read more at macombdaily.com ...
I know that area well. If you’re a bad guy, don’t mess with the locals there outside Mason and Holt. They all have guns.
ammonium nitrate?
Among other things.
I would say this story is a bunch of BS, but it’s actually anhydrous ammonia.
Here in Florida some older teens had been told a big pipe down by the river had money it it.
So they drilled into the pipe which happened to be an ammonia pipeline.
Few months later another guy did the same thing and nearly killed himself.
Yes, much more likely.
If was anhydrous ammonia...it was for a meth lab.
Absolutely. Farmers all over the midwest have had issues with methheads stealing anhydrous for, oh, the last 15 years.
These idiots will drill a hole into a 2,000 gallon tank to fill a propane bottle, then leave the tank, hole and all for the locals to discover the hard way.
If the thief had been a bunch of illegals in Arizona, the farmer would have been charged with gun violations, kidnapping, and whatever else they could think of.
The thief would be awarded $78,000 because his feelings were hurt by that mean gun-wielding farmer.
I just came back from a business trip up there.
Michigan has areas with a very independent, self sufficient and even frontier mentality. Nice place, solid people.
Could use some global warming though.
I found it a little odd that the reporter felt it necessary to mention that the gun was legally owned. I'd have been astonished if it wasn't.
The reporter was probably astonished to know you could own a gun legally.
With recent jumps in commodity prices, farmers (who have lots of commodities on their operations) often become the targets of thieves.
Farmers have had fuel stolen, metals stolen for scrap (including the power cables off irrigation machines), chemicals, etc.
Then there’s the lovely meth-heads to deal with. Anhydrous ammonia is nasty, nasty stuff. It is the cheapest nitrogen fertilizer available for farmers - they use shank tillage tools to “inject” the anhydrous under the surface of the soil, where the anhydrous converts to a gas, binds with moisture in the soil and puts nitrogen into the soil.
But anhydrous is also an ingredient in the “nazi method” of cooking meth, along with red phosphorous, sudafed and other cold medicines, starting fluid (ether) and so on. Farmers have had these clowns drill into large tanks, steal a little bit of the gas for their operation, then leave the holes unplugged to allow the gas to escape to wherever in the area. Anhydrous is a pretty dangerous substance to be around without protection - it wants to bind with water in the worst possible way, so if you inhale it, it will cause burns in your lungs, it will burn your eyes, skin, etc.
I appreciate the kind words about Michigan!
Doesn’t happen often here!
There is a 3 day gun show at the fairgrounds in Mason this weekend. Time to break the piggy bank.
The perp’s ID hasn’t been released yet? That’s interesting.
Love the people! I would die in the weather though . . .
We have been going up to Beaumont Children’s Hospital several times a year for 10 years now to address some medical issues, and while there we have branched out to see some of the various sights and byways.
In a nutshell, I have found most Michiganders offer cold but firm handshakes, and warm and open hearts.
I have been through much of the southern half of the state, but not yet gotten up into Yooper territory. That is on the agenda however, and I am looking forward to it.
In all truth, the way we have been treated up there has put your people and state on my family’s prayer list. I can’t tell you the blessings we have gotten up there, when things looked very bleak indeed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.