6-22 IAN Terror and Ag

 Terrorism and agriculture…how in heaven’s grace do those two world’s collide? Remember Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing? I’m David Sparks and I’ll be right back with the story. In October 1994, Timothy McVeigh showed Michael Fortier and his wife a diagram he had drawn of the bomb he wanted to build. It more than 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, mixed with about 1,200 pounds of liquid nitromethane and 350 pounds of Tovex. We all remember the tragic consequences. Here in Idaho there are actually being money spent and measures passed to prevent dams from being blown up.

 The Department of Homeland Security has introduced a new security measure for chemical facilities - and it could impact the agricultural community. The new Personnel Surety program would apply to chemical facilities regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards. That includes fertilizer manufacturers and agricultural retailers.

 Pam Guffain - President of Members Services for The Fertilizer Institute - says the idea is to identify known or suspected terrorists by enhancing existing security measures: “The new requirement would require that anybody at a facility whether it be an employee, a contractor, a visitor, if they are allowed unescorted access to a critical area, that individuals name now must be cleared through the terrorist screening data base.”