Ammonium Nitrate

The explosion at a Central Texas fertilizer plant Wednesday night could have been caused by ammonia gas or the more well-known explosive, ammonium nitrate, according to chemists. Neal Langerman, principal chemist with Advanced Chemical Safety, a San Diego industrial consulting firm, said the initial fire could easily have caused anhydrous ammonia to explode catastrophically. “It's really hard to ignite, but it's a flammable gas,” Langerman said. “If a tank containing a liquefied flammable gas is subjected to fire, that tank could fail catastrophically, releasing the gas, which will instantly ignite, causing a catastrophic explosion, as was seen.” A robust fire also would be needed to ignite ammonium nitrate, a well-known explosive used in industry and adopted by terrorists.

WEST, Texas - A week after a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 residents, injured more than 150 others and leveled scores of homes, one emotion is notably absent here among citizens and officials alike: outrage. "Water under the bridge," said Steve Vanek, West's mayor pro-tem, referring to decisions that allowed homes and schools to be built near the plant. "It was an accident, and accidents do happen," said Jean Smith, 66, whose home lost most of its roof and sustained structural damage.

The blast at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant on Wednesday night was so massive that investigators believe it probably involved a significant amount of ammonium nitrate, a chemical that some scientists say should be regulated as an explosive. In a report filed with the Texas Department of State Health Services on Feb. 26, West Fertilizer Co. said that it had up to 270 tons of ammonium nitrate at its facility, along with up to 100,000 pounds of liquid ammonia. The exact amounts on hand at the plant are not yet known, officials said.

The explosion at a Central Texas fertilizer plant Wednesday night could have been caused by ammonia gas or the more well-known explosive, ammonium nitrate, according to chemists. Neal Langerman, principal chemist with Advanced Chemical Safety, a San Diego industrial consulting firm, said the initial fire could easily have caused anhydrous ammonia to explode catastrophically. “It's really hard to ignite, but it's a flammable gas,” Langerman said. “If a tank containing a liquefied flammable gas is subjected to fire, that tank could fail catastrophically, releasing the gas, which will instantly ignite, causing a catastrophic explosion, as was seen.” A robust fire also would be needed to ignite ammonium nitrate, a well-known explosive used in industry and adopted by terrorists.

WEST, Texas - A week after a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 residents, injured more than 150 others and leveled scores of homes, one emotion is notably absent here among citizens and officials alike: outrage. "Water under the bridge," said Steve Vanek, West's mayor pro-tem, referring to decisions that allowed homes and schools to be built near the plant. "It was an accident, and accidents do happen," said Jean Smith, 66, whose home lost most of its roof and sustained structural damage.

They call it ANFO--ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. For homeowners demanding lush, verdant lawns and farmers producing bountiful crops, ammonium nitrate is a common product. For large-scale mining firms and industrial demolition operations, that chemical blended with ordinary fuel oil produces a relatively inexpensive and effective explosive.

More than 12 years after Timothy J. McVeigh used ammonium nitrate fertilizer to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building, Congress quietly passed legislation this month to regulate sales of the explosive. But the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007, part of an appropriations measure signed Wednesday by President Bush, falls far short of the strict law that some in the counter-terrorism community and federal law enforcement were hoping for.

Indonesian police seized a huge cache of ammonium nitrate in Central Sulawesi province Wednesday and said it was destined for a fugitive wanted in the deadly bombing of a McDonald's restaurant. Ammonium nitrate is a common fertilizer, but it can be mixed with fuel oil to make a powerful explosive. It was the substance used in the Oct. 12 blasts in Bali that killed more than 190 people, mostly Western tourists.

The Homeland Security Department announced plans Tuesday to regulate the sale of ammonium nitrate, 16 years after the fertilizer was used to make a bomb that killed 168 people at a federal office building in Oklahoma City. Under the proposed regulations, anyone who buys, sells or transfers 25 pounds of the chemical must apply to register with the department. Ammonium nitrate facilities must also keep records of sales or transfers of the chemical for at least two years after each transaction.

Twice a week, a caravan of trucks lumbers out of this volatile northwest Pakistan city in the dead of night and makes its way toward Afghanistan, loaded with one of the most coveted substances in a Taliban bombmaker's arsenal: ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Every time the illicit caravan makes its trip, it moves unhindered past a gantlet of Pakistani police checkposts along the Pak-Afghan Highway. A string of bribes paid out to police, politicians and bureaucrats ensures that the smuggled explosive agent reaches its destination, middlemen on the Afghan side of the border who sell it to insurgents, says the co-owner of a Pakistani trucking firm that dispatches the caravans.

The blast at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant on Wednesday night was so massive that investigators believe it probably involved a significant amount of ammonium nitrate, a chemical that some scientists say should be regulated as an explosive. In a report filed with the Texas Department of State Health Services on Feb. 26, West Fertilizer Co. said that it had up to 270 tons of ammonium nitrate at its facility, along with up to 100,000 pounds of liquid ammonia. The exact amounts on hand at the plant are not yet known, officials said.

The Homeland Security Department announced plans Tuesday to regulate the sale of ammonium nitrate, 16 years after the fertilizer was used to make a bomb that killed 168 people at a federal office building in Oklahoma City. Under the proposed regulations, anyone who buys, sells or transfers 25 pounds of the chemical must apply to register with the department. Ammonium nitrate facilities must also keep records of sales or transfers of the chemical for at least two years after each transaction.

Santa Monica police have arrested a 16-year-old boy they said was found with homemade explosives at his apartment. Officers were conducting a routine probation check about 7 p.m. Wednesday at the teen's home in the 1100 block of 12th Street near Wilshire Boulevard when they found a 3-inch PVC pipe bomb and firecrackers, including illegal M-80s, said Sgt. Rich Lewis of the Santa Monica Police Department. Information about the boy's probation was unavailable. Lewis said they also found a white powder, which the boy identified as ammonium nitrate, a substance commonly used to make explosives.

Twice a week, a caravan of trucks lumbers out of this volatile northwest Pakistan city in the dead of night and makes its way toward Afghanistan, loaded with one of the most coveted substances in a Taliban bombmaker's arsenal: ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Every time the illicit caravan makes its trip, it moves unhindered past a gantlet of Pakistani police checkposts along the Pak-Afghan Highway. A string of bribes paid out to police, politicians and bureaucrats ensures that the smuggled explosive agent reaches its destination, middlemen on the Afghan side of the border who sell it to insurgents, says the co-owner of a Pakistani trucking firm that dispatches the caravans.

More than 12 years after Timothy J. McVeigh used ammonium nitrate fertilizer to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building, Congress quietly passed legislation this month to regulate sales of the explosive. But the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007, part of an appropriations measure signed Wednesday by President Bush, falls far short of the strict law that some in the counter-terrorism community and federal law enforcement were hoping for.

A quarter-ton of dynamite and a 30-pound bag of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate were stolen last week from a small gold-mining operation on forestland near Big Bear City, authorities said Tuesday. Gold Mountain Mine Co. reported that 686 dynamite sticks weighing about 500 pounds were stolen, along with the ammonium nitrate, fuel oil and mining equipment, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Chevron Chemical to Sell Plants: Chevron Corp. said it is seeking to sell its nitric acid and fertilizer plants in Richmond, Calif., and some related equipment. Chevron Chemical Co., the company's San Ramon-based subsidiary, said in January that it planned to close the plants in July. A sale price wasn't disclosed. Proceeds from the sale of the plants would offset the approximate $1.5 million cost of closing and dismantling the plants, Chevron said.

A drill bit found in Terry Nichols' house made markings similar to those found on a padlock at a quarry where he is accused of stealing explosives used in the Oklahoma bombing, an FBI expert testified Friday. Jurors watched intently as the expert, James Cadigan, displayed pictures comparing markings on the padlock with those he created with the bit found in Nichols' basement.

The theft of 7,500 pounds of fertilizer containing ammonium nitrate from a Huntington Beach nursery sparked an investigation by FBI officials, who concluded it wasn't the explosive form of the chemical used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. "It's highly unlikely that it could be used in the manufacturing of explosives," said Cathy Viray, spokeswoman for the FBI.

A convicted counterfeiter who apparently had a grudge against the courts was arrested Thursday on charges of plotting to blow up a federal courthouse, authorities said. Prosecutors said Gale William Nettles, 66, was arrested with a pickup containing 1,500 pounds of fertilizer that he allegedly thought was volatile ammonium nitrate, the farm chemical used to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building.