30 tons of explosives company's ammonium nitrate lost while on rail transit

Ammonium nitrate itself isn't explosive, but it's the base component in explosives. It's heavily regulated due to the dangers it presents to the public.

So, when the company Dyno Nobel sealed up the rail car for it to be transported from Wyoming to California, it followed all of the rules. When it arrived in California, however, it was gone, with the doors still sealed.

The New York Times quoted the company's statement saying, “The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the rail car may have developed in transit."

Union Pacific was responsible for the transportation, and their spokesperson, Kristen South, explained that they are doing a full investigation.

“The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption,” South said. “If the loss resulted from a rail car leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment.”

They don't believe any malicious intent is involved in the incident.

It's one of many rail leaks, crashes, or spills that have happened over the course of the year.

One trail derailed near Wyndmere, North Dakota, at the Minnesota border, spilling chemicals on March 27. A whopping 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from a train near Anacortes, Washington, the EPA revealed on March 16. A train derailment spilled many cases of beer and clay into the local river of Paradise, Montana, on April 2. A Union Pacific train derailed on March 4 in Ogden, Utah, that spilled the chemical compound of magnesium chloride over the rail yard. A CSX freight train derailed on March 8 after hitting a rockslide over the tracks in West Virginia, leading to diesel fuel spilling into the river.

There has been heightened attention on train disasters and spills since the Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, sending chemicals into the drinking water and the air as they burned off.

The Trump administration gutted train safety regulations as part of the request of rail company lobbyists, said Common Dreams in Feb. Trump then traveled to the city for a political rally.

The visit prolonged the attention to the dangers ushered in by Trump's relaxing of safety regulations. There were a few other Norfolk Southern train derailments that followed the East Palestine incident, leading to more questions about the company and its practices.