Iowa briefs
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
Staff reports | Friday, January 26, 2007 |
Soybean hulls cause fire at ag processing plant
MASON CITY, Iowa — Damage from a fire at an Ag Processing plant was confined to a 3,000-bushel gas dryer, fire officials said.
The Tuesday night fire was caused by overheated soybean hulls, said Fire Marshal Mark Christiansen.
“It is something that happens. It wasn’t a malfunction or anything like that,” he said.
Mike Maranell, senior vice president of corporate relations for AGP, said the damaged beans were removed from the dryer and repair plans are under way.
“There is some electrical work that needs to be done, but there were no big problems,” he said.
Maranell said the plant stopped receiving beans on Wednesday so crews could work near the dryer, but deliveries were later resumed.
The fire was reported at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and firefighters were on the scene until just before 11 p.m.
Ag Processing is a farmer-owned cooperative with six plants in Iowa. Other plants are in Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.
Dietary supplement leak prompts lock down
DES MOINES — A crushed dietary supplement pill leaked from a package mailed to the Iowa attorney general on Thursday, causing the temporary lock down of a state office building.
An employee in the consumer protection office of the Iowa attorney general opened a letter that leaked a brown powder, said Jim Saunders, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
The employee followed state protocol by calling the Iowa State Patrol post with jurisdiction over the Capitol complex including the Lucas Building, which houses the attorney general’s offices.
The Des Moines hazardous materials team, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents and U.S. Postal Service inspectors responded.
The person who mailed the letter was contacted by investigators and it was confirmed that the powder was a dietary supplement that had been mailed as a pill, but had been crushed in the mail.
It was sent to the attorney general as part of the man’s complaint about the effectiveness of the product.
The Lucas Building was closed to incoming or outgoing traffic for 90 minutes, Saunders said.
He said anyone planning on mailing such substances should contact the recipient to find out if they want the substance mailed and if so who to send it to, Saunders said.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit» More State Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Technology News Articles
- Computers, MP3, Phones & More. See Product Pics, Specs & Reviews.
- www.NexTag.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
