NH3 leak forces evacuation

LAOTTO, Ind. (AP) — Anhydrous ammonia that leaked from a farm tank forced the evacuation of a four-square-mile area in northeastern Indiana and left a motorist and four firefighters with minor facial burns, officials said.

All five people were treated at the scene and refused hospitalization after a hose detached from a pull-behind ammonia tank at about 7:30 p.m. Friday, said LaOtto fire chief Jim Molargik.

“Something mechanical broke,” he said.
Authorities evacuated residents around the leaking tank due to concerns that shifting winds could overwhelm residents before they could flee from the toxic gas. Officials said it was unclear how many people were evacuated from the town 15 miles north of Fort Wayne.

The leak shut down Old State Road 3, LaOtto’s main road, for nearly two hours. By 9:15 p.m., the ammonia cloud had dissipated and cleanup crews arrived, Molargik said.

Anhydrous ammonia is used as fertilizer and can be fatal if inhaled.

Resident Kristie Sliger told The News-Sun of Kendallville that she was taking a walk when she saw police, fire and emergency vehicles racing in, and police began setting up cones. “I thought maybe that there was a high-speed chase going to happen,” she said.
Friday’s leak came during the first day on the job for the Noble County Emergency Management Agency’s new director, Michael Newton.

“It’s an absolute learning experience,” he said.


Indiana gains another ethanol plant at Clymers

CLYMERS, Ind. (AP) — Production has started at an ethanol factory that is touted by its Ohio-based owners as the largest dry-mill ethanol plant east of the Mississippi River.

The plant, owned by The Andersons Clymers Ethanol LLC, will produce 110 million gallons of ethanol annually, along with 350,000 tons of distillers dried grains, an animal feed ingredient.

“We are especially happy to bring this operation to Cass County where we have a generous supply of corn as well as long-standing relationships with local growers,” said Mike Anderson, president and CEO of The Andersons Inc., in a statement.

The agribusiness is based in the Toledo suburb of Maumee.
Construction on the $146 million plant started in early 2006 after Cass County officials spent months working to convince The Andersons to build at the site about 30 miles northeast of Lafayette.

The Clymers refinery is the third in the state to produce ethanol for fuel. Several others are under construction.


13 illegal workers arrested at Michigan dairy farm

BAD AXE, Mich. (AP) — Federal agents raided a dairy farm and arrested 13 workers, saying they were illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The raid took place at the Bad Axe dairy farm of Johannes and Anthonia Verhaar, authorities said. Those taken into custody were being held in Detroit while federal officials tried to verify their identities, said Greg Palmore, a Detroit-based spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Bad Axe is in Huron County in Michigan’s Thumb region, about 100 miles north of Detroit.

“When conducting operations such as this one, we’ve encountered people who have 12 or 13 different aliases,” Palmore told The Bay City Times.

Contacted by the newspaper, both Johannes and Anthonia Verhaar declined to comment. There was no answer to calls made last week to their dairy farm.

The May 8 raid came about as part of an ongoing investigation of the farm by Detective Sgt. Mark Krebs of the Michigan State Police post in Bad Axe. Krebs said the Verhaars are not U.S. citizens but are in the country on work visas.

A complaint about illegal immigrants and tax fraud has been under investigation since February, the Huron Daily Tribune of Bad Axe reported. Krebs said the Verhaars claim that the Mexican workers are here legally.


Judge: Stable owners not negligent in saddlebred attacks

VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) — The owners of a central Kentucky boarding farm were not negligent when someone injected five saddlebreds with a tissue-destroying substance in 2003, a judge has ruled.

Woodford Circuit Judge Paul Isaacs issued a 13-page opinion Thursday saying there’s no evidence linking Dena and David Lopez, the owners of the Double D Ranch, to the attacks.

“These horses were injured by a willful act, but there is no evidence to connect that act to Ms. Lopez or her agents or employees,” Isaacs wrote.

The ruling cancels a trial in a civil lawsuit against the Lopezes that had been scheduled to begin Monday.

“I would characterize it as a major victory for Dena Lopez and Double D Ranch,” said William Rambicure, the Lexington attorney who represented the farm.

“There was no evidence of any intentional wrongdoing on the part of Dena, which is what we maintained throughout.”

The attacks happened June 28, 2003, days before the Lexington Junior League Horse Show, the world’s largest outdoor show for saddlebreds. The injections caused gaping wounds, and three of the animals, including the champion show horse Wild-Eyed & Wicked, had to be put down.

No one has been arrested or charged in the attacks, but Double D sued Joe and Sally Jackson in 2004, seeking more than $13,000 in boarding fees and other expenses for the care of Wild-Eyed &
Wicked and another horse after the attacks.

The Jacksons, who live in Kansas, counter-sued Double D, claiming the ranch failed to tell them of the injuries to their horses, misrepresented the conditions of the animals and didn’t get veterinary care quickly enough.

Isaacs wrote that Joe Jackson signed a “release and hold harmless agreement” in 2001 that released Double D from liability for injuries or property damage. “Mr. Jackson made the decision to sign this agreement and he is now bound by that agreement,” Isaacs wrote.

Isaacs also ruled that the Lopezes could not back up any of the charges they wanted the Jacksons to pay.

The Jacksons and their attorneys could not be reached for comment.

Wild-Eyed & Wicked’s remains were exhumed in February 2005 from a grave on Double D Ranch. The remains were reburied that July at the Kentucky Horse Park, and a memorial service included the unveiling of a bronze marker of the horse’s likeness, sculpted by Sally Jackson.

Rambicure said the lingering question of who injected the horses and why probably won’t be answered unless someone comes forward with information. “That hasn’t happened. It’s extraordinarily unfortunate that that hasn’t happened. We certainly wish that that would happen,” he said.