very dangerous

I received this in an e-mail from a LEO instructor friend, and think it's something for my friends and family to watch out for.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
urednecku




We cant be to careful especially with stuff like this that could cause an explosion. While your cooking your steak on the grill. Be safe this grilling season.

A note sent out from the Indiana Sheriff's Association
I was at a meth training/workshop yesterday and there was a lot of great new information presented. I wanted to let you all know about one thing that I was not aware of. Meth cooks are getting the propane tanks from the exchanges at Wal-Mart, Kroger, etc. and emptying them of the propane. Then, they are filling them with anhydrous ammonia (which they now have a recipe for by the way). After they are finished with them, they return them to the store. They are then refilled with propane and sent back for you and me to buy. Anhydrous ammonia is very corrosive and weakens the structure of the tank. It can be very dangerous when mixed with propane and hooked up to our grills, etc.. According to our presenter, you should inspect the propane tank for any blue or greenish residue around the valve areas. If it is present, refuse to purchase that one.

Chief Deputy Scott Mellinger
Monroe County Sheriff's Office
812-349-2756

I know about the use of the tanks first hand. Last week we had two of our fork truck tanks stolen from the rack at out plant. They did a number to the back wall of the plant to get them out the back of the rack. (front side is padlocked shut)

rback33 said:

I know about the use of the tanks first hand. Last week we had two of our fork truck tanks stolen from the rack at out plant. They did a number to the back wall of the plant to get them out the back of the rack. (front side is padlocked shut)

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May their stove blow up in their faces. These people do not deserve to breath free air. To me, a thief is about as low as one gets, especially when they also destroy an honest working mans property.

Thanks for the heads up.

Did not know this! But we use good old charcoal, Kingsford on our grill.

I always refill my won tanks so I know what I'm dealing with, this info reinforces that practice for sure.

RedRocker said:

I always refill my won tanks so I know what I'm dealing with, this info reinforces that practice for sure.

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Good idea, if there is a place local to fill one up. The exchange program costs a lot more, too.

I've always found U-Haul the best bargain for refilling. Cheaper than most gas stations; cheaper and faster than any box-store exchange.

Snopes.

Snopes does say that it does weaken the structure of the tank. This is a surprise to me because many moons ago when I worked at a local Coop we use to change the product in the larger tanks all the time. In the summer we used them for Anhydrous and in the winter we used them for portable LP Tanks. These are the larger 1000 gallon one on wheels. I can't remember but when we switched one direction or the other we had to dump a chemical in the tank first. We did this for years and never had any trouble.

As for meth producers exchanging the tanks Snopes has to proof of that.


murph

Is it supposedly the mixture of remnants of the anhydrous and propane in the tank's metal that weakens it?
There's a lot of anhydrous trailers out here that have a lot of years on 'em and they haven't busted open, so, I'm rather doubtful, myself.