DHS Urged to Implement Ammonium Nitrate Regulations

Homeland Security Review QHSR

The Department of Homeland Security is being urged to implement regulations designed to make it harder for terrorists to build homemade bombs. The legislation was created 2 years ago and members of the House Committee on Homeland Security are saying it’s time enact the laws.

From ABC News
“This delay in implementing the rules for ammonium nitrate regulation is unacceptable. We are talking about matters of life and death,” says Rep. Pete King (R-NY), the Republican ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. “The Department of Homeland Security must move quickly.”

Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of House Committee on Homeland Security, agrees that the delays have been frustrating and worrisome. “Congress addressed the threat of ammonium nitrate through legislation over two years ago. Regulating the sale of this chemical is vital to the security of the nation.”

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying that the “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” is complete and that they are in the final stages of internal vetting.

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DHS to Regulate Buying and Selling Ammonium Nitrate

In an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security has announced new plans to regulate the selling and purchasing of ammonium nitrate. The widely used fertilizer was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 186 people and was the subject of a 2006 ABC News investigative report that found lethal quantities of the fertilizer was frighteningly easy to obtain.

“Terrorist organizations have and will continue to use explosives, including [ammonium nitrate]-based explosive, in future terrorist attacks,” the amendment says, explaining that the availability of bags of the fertilizer around the country means the potentially deadly chemical could end up in the hands of terrorists.

Source

Watch Brian Ross Report

Retailers Asked To Report Missing or Stolen Fertilizer

The Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association has been advised to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious, or out of the ordinary related to missing or stolen fertilizer.

The FBI informed the IFAC that several lawn and garden facilities, as well as agriculture retail facilities in the Midwest have experienced the theft of ammonium nitrate fertilizers.

No thefts have been reported yet in Illinois.

If you have any information, or you are a retailer that has experienced theft of fertilizer, please contact the FBI regardless of how large or small the theft may have been.

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