Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people in 1995.īut it's not a danger that exists in many places.
Timothy McVeigh used 2 tons of ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil to destroy the Alfred P. Mixed with something flammable and exposed to flame, it can explode. 'We don’t seem to learn': 10 years after tragic Texas chemical explosion, risk remains high What is ammonium nitrate?Īmmonium nitrate is explosive under certain conditions. If the loss resulted from a railcar leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment." "The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption. "Our investigation is in its early stages because the customer recently reported the possible loss of fertilizer from one compartment of a multi-compartment railcar," South told USA TODAY Tuesday. "At this point in the investigation, we do not believe there is any criminal or malicious activity involved," said Kristen South, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, who works with its customers to investigate any loss of commodity or damaged freight. "Our review will be exhaustive to understand what led to this situation, but there is no indication of any danger to the public and no indication the pellets were intentionally taken by anyone," the Dyno spokesperson said. Officials said the railcar was transported back to Wyoming where it will be inspected.
Neither the FRA nor CPUC could immediately be reached by USA TODAY on Tuesday morning. In addition to Dyno, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Union Pacific are investigating the case. "The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the railcar may have developed in transit," according to the company, releasing pellets onto the tracks over the two-week trip.įBI investigating: Border Patrol kills Arizona man who reported migrants on property, family says
"The railcar was also observed after departure in the railroad’s Cheyenne yard with the seals intact and no sign of any leaks." "The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale," a spokesperson for the company that manufactures explosives told USA TODAY. Two weeks later it was found empty at a rail stop in the California Mojave Desert, according to a report filed with the federal National Response Center on May 10.ĭyno Nobel said the material, transported in pellet form in a covered hopper car similar to those used to ship coal, likely fell from a rail car on the way to a rail siding (a short track connecting with the main track), about 30 miles from Mojave in Kern County, just east of Bakersfield. The railcar, loaded with more than 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, left Cheyenne, Wyoming on April 12, a Union Pacific spokesperson told USA TODAY Tuesday. A 30-ton shipment of a chemical that can be used as fertilizer or an explosive is missing from a California-bound railroad car after rail officials confirmed it disappeared during a trip across the West last month.
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