Sprayed Towboat Relased from Quarantine, EPA holding release of crop duster tests

CBS 12 WJTV Jackson, Mississippi ^ | October 22, 2001 | Darren Dedo

[umbra]

A Mississippi River towboat that was sprayed with an unknown substane by a crop duster has been released from quarantine.

The towobat and crew of 11 were released at 12 a.m. this morning. The towboat and its 17 barges of coal are again streming towards their destination of Tampa, Florida. The towboat had been quarantined since Friday afternoon.

A Mid South towing spokeswoman says that investigations by the EPA and the Mississppi Department of Agriculture have been completed. The results of the investigation have yet to be published.

Law enforcement agencies are still searching for the cropduster and a pleasure boat the plane also sprayed.

[gold]

To me this is showboating. You're talking about rural Mississippi/Arkansas people potentially at the stick. Depending on which way the wind was blowing, assuming he was dusting cotton, crossing the river twice is not uncommon. I haven't talked to the company yet to get the lowdown on what they precisely witnessed, but they're just as paranoid as the rest of us.

It's not an event in my book. Showboating is my take.

[umbra]

The reports on the scene said the pilot went right for both the barge and the pleasure boat. Not concerned about dumping in the river, betcha he gets a ripped a new one from EPA, FAA anyone who can get their hands on him.

[MarkWar]

>So, hypothetically, if I were witnessing this, and I emptied 2 clips from my 9mm into the plane, causing it to crash...

Excuse me, I'm not a gun person, but isn't a 9mm something like a PPK? A handheld pistol? I'm not sure even James Bond is going to take out a plane -- even a low flying, slow flying -- with a pistol. (Although I _HAVE READ_ that blimps flying over urban areas get a lot of holes from folks down below taking pot shots at them with something...)

Mark W.

[BostonGuy]

Dry run for the real thing, to be performed later, maybe?

Possible, but unlikely. If the terrorists got their hands on a crop duster and the necessary bio agents, why risk capture with a dry run?

[umbra]

Or why spray a coal barge in the middle of nowhere? Did they think no one would notice a maniac crop duster spraying boats with chemicals in the middle of the Missippi River?

[Humidston]

I think it'll be a safe bet FBI, FDA, EPA, et.al. govmt. agencies will be on this pilot's tail. Another safe bet: He'll never fly another plane again!

[FR_addict]

I think the fact that they released the boat, cargo and crew is a pretty good indication that there is no biological threat.

Not necessarily. They may have wanted to make sure it wasn't smallpox or some other contagious bioweapon. If it was anthrax, it's not contagious to others.

[MinuteGal]

Just how long does it take to track down the pilot and the plane in this caper? Checking the airports, big and small, for records, logs and takeoffs is no big deal and should have been accomplished right off the bat. The pilot should be in custody by now or his mug should be up on every post office bulletin board. On the other hand, if there's no records to be found, then something is screwy, lethal spray or not. I agree that some politicians, bureaucrats and the media are creating panic and paranoia in the public with their own exaggerated sense of caution and/or plain stupidity.

Leni

[umbra]

This stuff that was in the sprayer is supposedly an oxidizing agent for chemical explosions according to the local news media.

[angkor]

how long would I spend in jail?

Who owns the Mississippi, and which state were you in?

I'm a Virginian, and the People's Republic of Maryland owns the Potomac River up to our high-tide shores.

My lawyer assures me he'd make it a Constitutional crisis ;-)

[AgThorn]

How hard can it be to track the plane down? especially if it had call letters on it, which is a law isn't it?

I would assume that if I was getting sprayed, or saw this happening, that I would have written down the call letters and reported it to the authorities.

[Axman4]

9MM Parabellum is not the 9MM Kurtz used by 007. Although both are somewhat puny rounds compared to better calibers, either one can take down a crop duster with accurate marksmanship.

[Fred25]

So, hypothetically, if I were witnessing this, and I emptied 2 clips from my 9mm into the plane, causing it to crash (killing the pilot) how long would I spend in jail?

In Bolivar County? Dat would depend on whether you knows de Sheriff or not, or how much money yo family has in de bank.

[Fred25]

Who owns the Mississippi, and which state were you in?

Taint nobody owns de riva, but I think Looziana claims jurisdiction over de West half, and Mizzizzippi claims authority over de East side. If you get drownded right smack dab in de middle of it, day fight over who gets to keep yo body.

[Robert357]

Last I heard, spraying of most pesticides, herbicides, etc. in or near rivers that contain fish, was a major environmental no-no. Rather than sending the cops or FAA out after the mad duster, someone should sic the EPA on these folks and really show them what a government agency run amok can do! (/sarcasm)

Seriously, two clips of 9mm would not cause me to vote against a plea of self defense.

[RBurke]

The authorities said they are asking for anyone who might have seen the numbers/identifying letters to come forward--which means no-one got it during this incident.

The emergency manager said only the barge and small boat were sprayed. Does this sound like merely dumping harmless chemicals when someone is targeted?

The crew remains on Cipro, so officials think terrorism is a good possibility or they would not have taken that step.

The incubation period for something like smallpox is 2 weeks--this is pretty damn irresponsible to let that barge/crew go before we know more.

The John Hopkins link from the CDC states that the best way to use smallpox is by aerosol (akin to crop dusting).

They also state that evidence would remain on objects for only 6 hours before completely degrading if the temp was warm and the humidity was near 80%.(24 hours if weather was cooler). Check fridays weather report for that area. It was warm with high humidity.I wonder how long it took that barge to get back to port after this happened? I wonder how long it was until those samples were taken for testing?

Please remember there IS a missing crop dusting plane from Melborne Florida, a few weeks ago--never found.

[texlok]

>That is exactly what I was wondering, maybe since authorities havent found the crew of the sprayed pleasure boat yet they want to keep this under wraps.
>This happened Friday afternoon and they are just releasing the barge today?

Kinda does make you wonder, after all didn't they go around the country looking at all the cropdusters/owners? Surely they'd at least have some bit of an idea since the range on those aren't exactly all that long, plus they had to have come into contact with some kind of air traffic control, unless they did this very locally (by that I mean took off a mile or two away, did it, and landed at the same place or close by).

It's probably some kook, and I hope when they find him they ream him, he should be treated as bad, if not worse than the anthrax hoaxers running around.

EPA will be after him I'm sure ;-)

[texlok]

>I'm not sure of the normal incidence of crop dusting buzzes, but I personally have experienced the naval buzzing a number of times. Let's just assume this jerk was showboating and will pay the price for it.

Or he was in a hurry and didn't want to show back up wherever with full tanks and decided to be funny. I've heard of pilots dumping their load and telling the farmer they dusted. If this is a kind of salt-water like they are saying, the farmer probably would never know.

Either way the guy needs to be shown the errors of his ways, perhaps an hour or two alone with the people he sprayed.

[angkor]

If you get drownded right smack dab in de middle of it, day fight over who gets to keep yo body.

And if you shoot down a cropduster with your 9mm, you gets to decide who gots da mos' favrable gun laws?

[angkor]

perhaps an hour or two alone with the people he sprayed.

Send him to the FBI, they are still "considering" the people's justice.