30-Ton Shipment of Explosive Chemicals Vanishes During Rail Transport
About 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as both a fertilizer and an explosive, is missing after disappearing during a rail trip from Wyoming to California last month. The chemical was discovered missing after the rail car arrived in Saltdale, California, an unincorporated community more than 1,000 miles from Cheyenne. Federal officials are investigating the incident, but representatives for the rail company and the chemical manufacturer believe the chemical leaked through the rail car while in transit. The recent disappearance of the chemical should not threaten the public, according to a spokesperson for Union Pacific, the rail company that was transporting the chemical.