Clerical error blamed for missing ammonium nitrate

The RCMP and a Vancouver terminal operator will meet Thursday to review how the company lost track of two one-tonne bags of the same chemical used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

The meeting comes after Texas-based Kinder Morgan said it couldn't locate the ammonium nitrate in December in a shipment of 6,000 bags sent to its Vancouver terminal from Alberta.

The discrepancy was discovered when the bags were shipped from Vancouver to Surrey, B.C.

On Wednesday, Mounties said the bags were unaccounted for, but didn't suspect criminal wrongdoing. Half an hour later, they revealed the incident was a clerical error on the part of Kinder Morgan.

In the short time frame before the case was said to be solved, the threat of the missing chemical compound created a stir in a city about to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Security in Vancouver is a huge issue leading up to the Winter Games in February, further heightened by an attempted bombing on a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day that has led to new full-body scanners being installed at airports worldwide.

The question also remains why RCMP delayed releasing the information about the potentially missing materials.

There is also a discrepancy about when Mounties were first contacted by Kinder Morgan.

Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said they were contacted by the energy company just before Christmas.

Vermeulen said the information wasn't released until Wednesday because of the ongoing investigation, which also involved the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.

Kinder Morgan is one of the largest pipeline transportation and energy storage companies in North America with about 60,000 kilometres of pipelines and 170 terminals.

It transports, stores and handles such energy products as natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, ethanol, coal and carbon dioxide.

A spokesperson said Kinder Morgan doesn't own any ammonium nitrate or transport it. She said the company's role is storage only.