1100 lbs of explosives missing from 2 worksites; CO and CA.

FoxNews - cable | July 18, 2003

[Darksheare]

1100 pounds total now?
This is up from the 400 pounds missing before?
Or is this in addition to the previous 400 pounds?

[Vigilantcitizen]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,92329,00.html

Feds Investigating Theft of Large Amount of Explosive Chemical


DENVER — Federal agents said Friday they are investigating the theft of 1,100 pounds of an explosive chemical from construction companies in Colorado and California in the past week.





Both thefts involve ammonium nitrate (search), a key ingredient in the bomb that destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building (search) in 1995.

In the first heist, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (search) issued a nationwide alert Monday after eight 50-pound bags of an ammonium nitrate-based explosive vanished from the Pike View Quarry near Colorado Springs.

Then 700 pounds of an ammonium nitrate product were stolen this week from a similar business in San Diego County, Calif., ATF agent Rich Marianos said Friday.

"We're trying to check to see if it's similar or if we can rule out if it's involved in our theft," Marianos said.

The California theft from Tom C. Dyke Drilling and Blasting in Alpine, about 30 miles east of San Diego, happened Sunday or Monday, San Diego County sheriff's officials said. Thieves forced their way into a locked trailer and took 14 50-pound bags.

Authorities have not named any suspects in the thefts. A half-dozen homes and businesses in the Colorado Springs area have been searched.

"There really hasn't been much concrete information to go on in this case," Colorado Springs police Lt. Skip Arms said. "There's equally the possibility it was somebody who had a legitimate blasting job and didn't want to pay for the chemicals to someone with bad intentions."

Ammonium nitrate is used as fertilizer, but can become a powerful explosive when mixed with fuel oil. The government estimated about 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer was used to make the bomb that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City.

Authorities had said the material stolen in Colorado was already mixed with fuel oil and had a strong diesel fuel odor. They were not immediately able to say whether the ammonium nitrate that vanished in California was also part of a mixture.

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[dhuffman@awod.com]

NH4NO3 is hardly an 'explosive' whether FOX says so or you do. It is a fertilizer, a source of nitrogen and an oxidant but it is not an explosive. It is no more an explosive than is air or bat shit.

[AZamericonnie]

What would be the use for amonium nitrate on a construction site?

[drypowder]

FYI: ammonium nitrate is not an explosive, it's a fertilizer and used extensively in commercial agriculture. It could be catigoized as a binary explosive when mixed with a flamable component but then it's no longer "ammonium nitrate". Not to deminish the danger and I know this is just semantics but this kind of reporting makes amm nitrate sound more dangerous than it really is.

[Junior]

If that's the case, why did those two fertilizer-laden ships explode in Texas City in 1946?

[rogator]

But this was already mixed wth diesel. Plenty of Carbon there.

[JustAnAmerican]

"NH4NO3 is hardly an 'explosive' whether FOX says so or you do.

Even I, in my haste, saw the fact that it was mixed with fuel oil, did you miss that part?

[RockyMtnMan]

It was taken from a rock quarry (here in COS) and they use it for blasting. It makes a nice explosive slurry that can be channeled into holes drilled into the rocks. They blast roughly once a week, so each blast takes them a week to clear with heavy machinery.

[MineralMan]

"FYI: ammonium nitrate is not an explosive, it's a fertilizer and used extensively in commercial agriculture. "

The article was pretty clear on that, actually, unlike many such articles.

Bottom line is that when ammonium nitrate is stolen in quantity, it's likely that an explosion is planned. It's not all that expensive, so why steal it? Because records are kept of sales of the material.

As for it's explosive nature when mixed with diesel fuel, I can attest to that. I helped my father clear enormous boulders from his citrus orchard a number of years ago, using just that mixture. It worked a treat, being a low-velocity explosive and fairly easily directed with an earth cover over the explosive and the boulder. BANG!

When quantities are stolen, look for someone planning an explosion. That was the point of the news story, and they were careful to point out that it was normally used as a fertilizer and was only explosive when mixed with fuel.

Notably, the story did not detail how that mixture is detonated, and I hope future stories leave out that little detail. It's too easy.

[SierraWasp]

Wadda Ya think you're dealin with here... Billie Saul Estes?

[lelio]

When quantities are stolen, look for someone planning an explosion.

Not so fast, terrorists have rose gardens too.
Are tracers put into the fertilizer as done with TNT?

[dljordan]

To move dirt. You drill a hole, pour in the pre-mixed ANFO drop in a detonator and BAD-A-BING. It's a very slow explosive.

[MineralMan]

"Are tracers put into the fertilizer as done with TNT?

"

I have no idea. That was many years ago, and I use ammonium sulfate in my garden, so I haven't bought any for a long time.

[commandante_zero]

1100 lbs brains missing from Fox news.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Whoever is doing this is a moron. You can get ammonium nitrate cheap and if you buy a couple of bags here and a couple there, pay cash, and use the brand name, you will arouse no suspicion at all.

"Hey, friend. I need a couple of bags of Kelso's 10/14, please."

[Blood of Tyrants]

Not until you add diesel fuel as a wetting agent and then explode a blasting cap in it.

[Blood of Tyrants]

P.S. but it is not an explosive with a high brisance and unsuitable for most applications.... such a sblowing up a building or bridge. It works best on things like blasting ore at a quarry.