A probe has been launched by federal investigators into a 60,000-pound shipment of ammonium nitrate, equivalent to 30 Oklahoma City bombs, that has vanished during the two-week journey from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Saltdale, California, via Union Pacific’s rail network. The massive 30-ton, high-powered explosive shipment left manufacturing site Dyno Nobel on April 12 and was reported missing on May 10. The ammonium nitrate was in pellet form and preliminary reports suggest a leak in the rail car during transit likely caused it to spill along the journey. Union Pacific does not believe there was any “criminal or malicious activity involved.” A UP spokesman said, “The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale.”
