Steve Quayle News Alerts

July 15, 2003
By Deedee Correll - The Gazette

Four hundred pounds of an ammonium nitrate-based explosive — enough to blast apart a three-story building — disappeared this weekend from a concrete company in northwest Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs police reported.

The ammonium nitrate and fuel oil stolen from a locked storage unit at Castle Concrete Co. at the Pike View Quarry have no other purpose than as an explosive, Colorado Springs Police Sgt. Michael Spitzmiller said.

“We are concerned this is missing. We’re concerned because this is a blasting agent. What would someone use this for other than as a blasting agent?” he said.

He and Rich Marianos, special agent-in-charge for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said authorities have not received any information suggesting a terrorist group is responsible for the theft.

“We don’t want to drive panic into citizens,” Marianos said.

He said the ATF has not heard of similar thefts elsewhere in the country. The theft seems to be the first of its kind in this area, authorities said.

Workers at the concrete company realized the lock on a storage unit was broken and eight 50-pound bags were missing around 6:30 a.m. Monday. They last checked the storage unit on Saturday, Castle Concrete vice president Jerry Hermans said.

The area is protected by a gate, but it’s still possible for an intruder to get onto the grounds, authorities said, adding the company had taken the necessary precautions.

“The company did everything by the rules,” Marianos said. “They’re in 100-percent compliance.”

Hermans said the company is mining construction materials at the quarry, west of the intersection of Allegheny Drive and Centennial Boulevard.

Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil alone can’t be detonated without several other components, which police declined to list.

Ammonium nitrate is also used as fertilizer, but Colorado Springs Police Lt. Skip Arms said the missing material isn’t suitable for that use.

Police said the explosive is relatively safe to transport.

“What we don’t know is have they done anything to change the molecular structure?” Spitzmiller said.

In 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used an estimated 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil for the bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168.

Marianos asked residents to be on the lookout for the stolen bags or their contents, which resemble tiny, white balls. The nitrate becomes more volatile as it’s crushed into a finer powder, he said.

Residents should take note of the smell of diesel fuel in a place where they didn’t smell it before, Marianos said.

“The smell is distinct,” he said.

Anyone with information about this theft is asked to call Colorado Springs police at 444-7000 or 911 or Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP. Crime Stoppers callers may remain anonymous and are eligible for a $1,000 reward if their tip leads to an arrest in the case.

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