KINDER MORGAN WATCH

Two tonnes of explosive still unaccounted for

http://www2.canada.com/northshorenews/news/story.html?id=5676faf8-fcb9-4...

James Weldon, North Shore News
Published: Friday, January 22, 2010

With the Olympics less than a month away, police still don't know the whereabouts of two tonnes of ammonium nitrate that went missing after being shipped through North Vancouver last year.

The fertilizer, which can be used to create explosives, was part of a 6,000-tonne shipment transported from Alberta to the Kinder Morgan terminal in North Vancouver last fall before being trucked to Surrey in late December. On arrival, it became apparent two of the 6,000 one-tonne bags were missing. Kinder-Morgan reported the discrepancy to authorities on New Year's Eve. The RCMP's E-Division opened an investigation and went public with the story Jan. 6.

The next day, Kinder Morgan told police the reported loss was in fact just a clerical error, but investigators now say they have found nothing to support that claim.

"We're not really saying it's missing, but that it's unaccounted for," Cpl. Annie Linteau, a spokeswoman for E-Division, said Wednesday. "So far, we have been unable to really confirm the company's conclusions, so really we have to err on the side of caution and continue our investigation."

Ammonium nitrate, combined with other chemicals, was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. The so-called Toronto 18, whose ringleader was sentenced to life in prison Monday, had apparently intended to use the compound in attacks on several public buildings in Ontario.

With the world's media and hundreds of thousands of spectators expected to descend on the Lower Mainland in the coming weeks, some in the media have raised concerns over the security risk two tonnes of the chemical might pose should it turn out to have been stolen.

But police emphasize they have seen no evidence that foul play was involved in the disappearance.

"I'm not going to get into what the product can be used for; we're all aware of the potential, but we have no information to suggest there is any kind of criminal wrongdoing," said Linteau. "We're just continuing our investigation."

It will likely be some time before the RCMP reaches a conclusion, however.

"Obviously, we have to conduct a detailed review of all the documents," said Linteau. "We're talking here about 6,000 bags shipped over the course of a month involving 250 truckloads. It's not something that can be done very quickly."

American authorities have been alerted to the situation, she said, but they are not directly involved.