PLEASANT PLAIN, Ohio (AP) -- Someone trying to steal anhydrous ammonia from a fertilizer plant early Wednesday released a stinging cloud of the chemical, which also is used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, fire officials said.
No injuries were reported. About 300 residents were evacuated but most were allowed to return about an hour after a hazardous materials team closed an opened valve, Harlan Township Fire Chief Andy Mitten said.
The leak at the Southwest Landmark plant was reported about 4:30 a.m., officials said.
``It's definitely criminal activity,'' Mitten said.
Anhydrous ammonia is produced as a liquid farm fertilizer, but it's also a key ingredient in methamphetamine. Southwest Landmark, which has about 40 tanks that hold 300 to 400 gallons each of liquid ammonia, has had break-ins before, Mitten said.
A regional drug investigation task force took over the investigation, said the group's commander, John Burke.
Firefighters arriving at the plant found a thick, gray cloud floating about two feet off the ground.
Fire officials evacuated 280 residents from this southwest Ohio village, 25 miles east of Cincinnati, along with about 20 other families who live nearby. Ammonia vapor can burn skin on contact and cause fatal lung damage.
Fertilizer plants and farms are increasingly being targeted by thieves nationwide as methamphetamine grows in popularity. The liquid chemical costs about $245 a ton.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has called meth abuse the nation's fastest-growing drug threat.
