Missing chemicals blamed on clerical error

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The reported disappearance of 1 to 2 tons of a potentially explosive material involved a clerical error and not theft, officials at a Canadian firm said.

Officials at Kinder Morgan's chemical storage facility reported Dec. 31 the ammonium nitrate vanished during the transport of 6,000 tons of it from Alberta to Vancouver last fall.

Company officials now say a clerical error was made and no theft occurred, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was especially concerned because of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, which run Feb. 12-29 in Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia.

The threat level for the games remained low as the RCMP worked to "validate Kinder Morgan's assessment," RCMP Cpl. Annie Linteau said Friday in Vancouver.

A truck filled with about 1 ton of ammonium nitrate, commonly used as a fertilizer, was used in the bombing of the federal U.S. courthouse that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 1995.