The Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, N.D. reported that three barrels of the sodium cyanide fell off the back of a truck
somewhere between Devils Lake and Cavalier, N.D., drawing the attention of the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office is searching for one of the barrels containing the extremely dangerous chemical. The remaining barrels were recovered and secured by the Devils Lake Fire Department. Terrorism has been ruled out in the incident.
The chemical was being brought to beekeepers who use it as a heavy duty disinfectant to sterilize equipment and to kill the bees at the end of the season.
It takes only 500 parts per million to kill a person in about five minutes when it's inhaled. The chemical reacts with water to create lethal hydrogen cyanide gas, which was used by the Nazis in World War II in gas chambers.
The paper reported that sodium cyanide is exempt from the U.S. Department of Transportation's placard rules. Vehicles carrying the chemical do not have to display a hazardous material warning placard.