I'm assuming this is carried in a hopper car, similar to grain cars; those things leak product all the time. Something doesn't add up here. Unless ammonium nitrate is really light/not dense then...
I'm assuming this is carried in a hopper car, similar to grain cars; those things leak product all the time.
In April, the train departed Cheyenne for a two-week trek to Saltdale, California carrying 30 tons of the chemical. When it arrived, the chemicals were gone
Something doesn't add up here. Unless ammonium nitrate is really light/not dense then 30 tons is significantly less than a full load. Usually a fully loading car is 110 - 130+ tons (total weight) and maybe < 40 tons is the weight of the empty car (I can't remember). Cars seem to be built in different sizes based on what its meant to haul so that you can reach that higher tonnage. They even make coal cars out of aluminum now presumably to hold a few extra tons of coal.
All that is to say, the article probably has some facts wrong or is poorly written. I would believe its more likely that they lost 30 tons from a full car rather than lost all of a partial load.
However, Dyno Nobel stated prior to the investigation that the seals were intact before leaving Cheyenne and after arriving in Saltdale.
I was going to say, describing ammonium nitrate as an explosives ingredient is a little misleading. Much more commonly used in farming. Still concerning, I suppose.
I was going to say, describing ammonium nitrate as an explosives ingredient is a little misleading. Much more commonly used in farming.
Sure, it's most commonly used as a fertilizer, and that's generally its intended use. But IMO it's not misleading to also describe it as an explosives ingredient, especially since domestic...
Sure, it's most commonly used as a fertilizer, and that's generally its intended use. But IMO it's not misleading to also describe it as an explosives ingredient, especially since domestic terrorists commonly use it for that purpose. E.g. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used ammonium nitrate to make their truck bomb in Oklahoma City. And Anders Breivik also used it to make his car bomb in Oslo.
I guess I should be more clear. I think its most likely it leaked out just like UP says, that's the most likely thing. I mainly wanted to add context about how much was actually missing because...
I guess I should be more clear. I think its most likely it leaked out just like UP says, that's the most likely thing.
I mainly wanted to add context about how much was actually missing because this article makes it sound like a whole car-load went missing. 30 tons is like 1/3 of a car.
Which is still six Oklahoma City bombings worth of ammonium nitrate. I'd love to believe it's just spread out over a few hundred miles of track, but I'm hoping the Feds are looking closely at this.
Which is still six Oklahoma City bombings worth of ammonium nitrate. I'd love to believe it's just spread out over a few hundred miles of track, but I'm hoping the Feds are looking closely at this.
I'm sure the feds will probably look into it. Hopefully they'll just look at their records and track the car and maybe look for large piles of the stuff. 30t would be a pretty fast leak, (178...
I'm sure the feds will probably look into it.
Hopefully they'll just look at their records and track the car and maybe look for large piles of the stuff. 30t would be a pretty fast leak, (178 pounds an hour) so you should definitely be able to find some piles.
I'm assuming this is carried in a hopper car, similar to grain cars; those things leak product all the time.
Something doesn't add up here. Unless ammonium nitrate is really light/not dense then 30 tons is significantly less than a full load. Usually a fully loading car is 110 - 130+ tons (total weight) and maybe < 40 tons is the weight of the empty car (I can't remember). Cars seem to be built in different sizes based on what its meant to haul so that you can reach that higher tonnage. They even make coal cars out of aluminum now presumably to hold a few extra tons of coal.
All that is to say, the article probably has some facts wrong or is poorly written. I would believe its more likely that they lost 30 tons from a full car rather than lost all of a partial load.
As if you can't get around a tamper evident seal.
I was going to say, describing ammonium nitrate as an explosives ingredient is a little misleading. Much more commonly used in farming.
Still concerning, I suppose.
Sure, it's most commonly used as a fertilizer, and that's generally its intended use. But IMO it's not misleading to also describe it as an explosives ingredient, especially since domestic terrorists commonly use it for that purpose. E.g. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used ammonium nitrate to make their truck bomb in Oklahoma City. And Anders Breivik also used it to make his car bomb in Oslo.
Or you can just go to the hardware store and buy it.
While "that's how you get on a list" is a meme at this point, that is how you get on a list.
I guess I should be more clear. I think its most likely it leaked out just like UP says, that's the most likely thing.
I mainly wanted to add context about how much was actually missing because this article makes it sound like a whole car-load went missing. 30 tons is like 1/3 of a car.
Which is still six Oklahoma City bombings worth of ammonium nitrate. I'd love to believe it's just spread out over a few hundred miles of track, but I'm hoping the Feds are looking closely at this.
I'm sure the feds will probably look into it.
Hopefully they'll just look at their records and track the car and maybe look for large piles of the stuff. 30t would be a pretty fast leak, (178 pounds an hour) so you should definitely be able to find some piles.