By
PHILIP BRASHER
Register Staff Writer
10/16/2001
State agricultural officials have increased inspections of
unattended anhydrous ammonia storage facilities to determine whether they are
secured, said Machelle Shaffer of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land
Stewardship.
Anhydrous ammonia is a commonly used nitrogen fertilizer that is injected
below the soil.
The ag agency notified 1,100 state-licensed fertilizer dealers two weeks
after the terrorist attacks that sales would be suspended at facilities found
to be unlocked and unattended. Sales cannot resume until problems are
corrected.
The state also forwarded an FBI statement to all Iowa fertilizer dealers
that asks retailers to report any suspicious activity or requests to purchase
large quantities of ammonium nitrate or urea, a nitrogen fertilizer. Larry
Thomsen, executive vice president for agronomy and energy sales at West Central
Cooperative in Ralston, said employees have been instructed to verify the
identity of nitrogen fertilizer customers who are unfamiliar to them.
"We've asked our employees to be aware of whom they are selling fertilizer
to," Thomsen said.