Police unable to confirm that missing explosive has been accounted for
By Andrea Woo and Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver SunJanuary 18, 2010
Police are not convinced that two tonnes of a powerful explosive that went "missing" two weeks ago are now accounted for.
On Jan. 6, the RCMP said pipeline and energy-storing company Kinder Morgan had reported in late December a discrepancy in the inventory of the powerful explosive from a storage facility in Surrey.
The missing ammonium nitrate consisted of two one-tonne bags from a 6,000-bag shipment.
Shortly after, Kinder Morgan contacted the RCMP again to say it had been due to a "clerical error" and in fact all ammonium nitrate had been accounted for.
"RCMP and Natural Resources Canada investigators have since been conducting a detailed review to validate Kinder Morgan's assessment," said Cpl. Annie Linteau.
"To date, investigators have not been able to confirm Kinder Morgan's conclusions."
Linteau said there is no evidence of theft or criminal wrongdoing to date and the RCMP's threat level for the Winter Olympic Games remains at low.
The ammonium nitrate, which was destined for the mining industry, was shipped from Alberta to North Vancouver in the fall of 2009.
It was then sent from North Vancouver to Surrey, where the discrepancy was noted and reported to police by Kinder Morgan.
Ammonium nitrate can be used as a fertilizer or as an explosive to open up mining quarries.
Ammonium nitrate was used in both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, where a 675-kilogram bomb killed six people and injured more than 1,000, and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people and left a crater six metres wide and 2.5 metres deep.
Kinder Morgan is a North American pipeline transportation and energy storage company that operates the Vancouver Wharves terminal in British Columbia.
By Andrea Woo and Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver SunJanuary 18, 2010
Police are not convinced that two tonnes of a powerful explosive that went "missing" two weeks ago are now accounted for.
On Jan. 6, the RCMP said pipeline and energy-storing company Kinder Morgan had reported in late December a discrepancy in the inventory of the powerful explosive from a storage facility in Surrey.
The missing ammonium nitrate consisted of two one-tonne bags from a 6,000-bag shipment.
Shortly after, Kinder Morgan contacted the RCMP again to say it had been due to a "clerical error" and in fact all ammonium nitrate had been accounted for.
"RCMP and Natural Resources Canada investigators have since been conducting a detailed review to validate Kinder Morgan's assessment," said Cpl. Annie Linteau.
"To date, investigators have not been able to confirm Kinder Morgan's conclusions."
Linteau said there is no evidence of theft or criminal wrongdoing to date and the RCMP's threat level for the Winter Olympic Games remains at low.
The ammonium nitrate, which was destined for the mining industry, was shipped from Alberta to North Vancouver in the fall of 2009.
It was then sent from North Vancouver to Surrey, where the discrepancy was noted and reported to police by Kinder Morgan.
Ammonium nitrate can be used as a fertilizer or as an explosive to open up mining quarries.
Ammonium nitrate was used in both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, where a 675-kilogram bomb killed six people and injured more than 1,000, and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people and left a crater six metres wide and 2.5 metres deep.
Kinder Morgan is a North American pipeline transportation and energy storage company that operates the Vancouver Wharves terminal in British Columbia.
