A tanker truck carrying ammonium nitrate rolled over on Highway 5 near the entrance to Hibbing Taconite, according to reports. Officials say the tank did not leak and there are no evacuations planned.
UPDATE: Check that, Northland’s Newscenter is reporting a half mile evacuation zone while the wreck is inspected.
UPDATE: (from Wikipedia):
The chemical compound ammonium nitrate, the nitrate of ammonia with the chemical formula NH4NO3, is a white crystalline solid at room temperature and standard pressure. It is commonly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer, and it has also been used as an oxidizing agent in explosives, including improvised explosive devices. It is the main component of ANFO, a popular explosive, which accounts for 80% explosives used in North America.
The mines use this for blasting.
More from Fox21: The driver is being treated for minor injuries. The truck leaked some fuel, but the tank carrying the ammonium nitrate was not compromised. Hibbing Taconite is more than two miles from the crash site and production there continues today. Highway 5 will remain closed at the crash site until everything is put back right.
FINAL UPDATE: I did a live interview on this topic with Ojibwe station WGZS at Fond du Lac in Cloquet. This was interesting because the site’s proximity to the Hill of Three Waters was a central question, as was worker safety in mines.
Final word is no leakage of ammonium nitrate. It wasn’t an evacuation so much as they had to close the highway to clear the wreck. The big story is the size of the crisis that was averted. This could have been an epic disaster..
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