KALAMAZOO, Mich., (AP)--Farmers in southwestern Michigan didn't sign up for the war on drugs. But they got drafted, and their enemy is wily, reckless and relentless.

They have something the makers of methamphetamine want: Anhydrous ammonia, a caustic fertilizer that's stored in large metal tanks and injected by the ton into more than 200,000 acres of cornfields in the region each spring because it's the cheapest source of nitrogen available. Most farms began this season's fertilizer applications this month.

Suppliers sell it at about $1,000 for a two-ton tank, which will treat 20 acres. Only growers can purchase it without a thorough grilling by distributors, who know their local customers and are suspicious of strangers.

They know that illegal drug makers use the potentially deadly chemical to hasten the conversion of the pseudoephedrine in ordinary cold tablets into the powerful stimulant crystal meth.

It's not the kind of stuff you'd want sloshing around. It's stored at minus-28 degrees Fahrenheit, is kept under pressure and vaporizes when it comes in contact with air. It will freeze-dry skin on contact, and its vapor seeks the moisture of eyes, nostrils, mouth and lungs.

It burns.

Despite the dangers of tapping into tanks and transporting it, thieves cut through fences, smash locks and mow paths through fields to steal it.

Thieves recently dodged surveillance cameras at Walt Stafford's Richland cattle farm to tap into an ammonia tank, and left the tank's valve open. By the time Stafford discovered the problem the next morning, a dozen animals were dead, others sick and dying.

As of late June 6, 64 animals had died or were to be destroyed, and 30 to 40 were sick and blinded.

In St. Joseph County, "They've cut hoses and broken into our building looking for parts and pieces to make their own storage containers," said Sandy Spence, assistant manager of Prairie Crop Service in Mendon. On thief was severely burned, Spence said.

Jon Drozd farms 6,500 acres in Kalamazoo, Allegan and Van Buren counties. He said thieves will break into a two-ton tank for just a quart.

"The year before last, we lost $3,000 in equipment costs," Drozd said. That included damages and the theft of goggles, tools and other items from work sheds. Once intruders swiped an entire tank and hauled it deep into the woods of Van Buren County, 50 miles away. By the time deputies discovered it, half the ammonia had leaked out.

Insurance usually does not pay the costs of security or loss to damage and theft, Drozd said.

Many farmers have so many tanks to guard they are virtually forced to leave them unprotected. Many purposely park them far from their homes and highways at the end of the day.

That leaves the tanks vulnerable, but it assures that when the thieves goof and ammonia spews from damaged valves or tubing, there is less chance people, animals and homes will be exposed to potentially lethal fumes.

While thefts at Drozd's farm continue, his dollar losses actually seem to be dropping.

Some thieves are getting so good at stealing the stuff, they're learning to operate the tanks' special valves instead of cutting hoses or damaging equipment, he says.

"We joke amongst ourselves, that it would be easier to teach them" proper technique, Drozd said. "But the best thing would be to get them to quit."

Paul Wylie, Michigan State University Extension agriculture agent, said some farmers have given up on using anhydrous entirely, switching to other, more costly fertilizers. Others return the tanks to suppliers each day.

Wylie said thieves also are targeting farm-supply companies in southwestern Michigan.

A clandestine anhydrous robbery of a Martin-area distributor in May 2004 resulted in a leak so serious that neighboring farms were evacuated.

"Everybody within an eighth of a mile" was notified, said Martin Township Supervisor Terry Sturgis.

Additionally, the supplier was slapped with $17,000 in penalties by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to report the problem to the National Response Center within 15 minutes, as required by federal law.

Lt. Tony Saucedo, unit commander for the Michigan State Police methamphetamine-prevention enforcement team, said undercover officers at the same site a few nights later approached people gathered to steal the ammonia. Some waiting for their turn at the tank scolded the plainclothes deputies for trying to cut, thinking they also were after the ammonia, he said.

In just a few weeks, 10 people were caught at the Martin site and charged, police said.

In December, Prairie Crop Service began offering an ammonia additive called GloTell, marketed by its parent company.

It adds about $9 to the cost of each ton of fertilizer and stains anything it touches bright pink, which helps deter some thieves.

But it carries another deterrent: Meth cooks who use the ammonia with GloTell are left not with the white powder they desire but with a gummy pink substance that is less concentrated and harder to smoke, said Scott Spelman, sales director for Royster Clark in Norfolk, Va., which makes GloTell.

Since December, there have been only seven attempted thefts at Prairie Crop Service, Spence said, and only one attempt in the month of May, nearly half of what the company saw this time last year. Reports of thefts from growers in the field who use GloTell have dropped as well.

State Rep. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, is pursuing legislation requiring all manufacturers and distributors of anhydrous ammonia in Michigan to add dye to the product.

Some thieves may not have gotten the message about GloTell, however. The dye was in the tank of anhydrous ammonia that killed the cattle at Stafford's farm in Richland.

Still, Stafford said the dye may help police catch and prosecute offenders.

"It's not a perfect fix," he said. "It's the only thing we've got at this point."

Wylie, the extension agent, says the government needs to find money to pay for GloTell.

"It behooves government, considering the effort and money we're spending on this problem, and the cost to people's lives, to get GloTell into all anhydrous at no cost to the farmer," Wylie said. "It's a no-brainer, but it doesn't seem to be happening.

Date: 6/20/05

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