704 pounds of dynamite still missing from PA job site

UPDATE: A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco said Friday afternoon that the missing dynamite was found at a park about a mile from where they were stolen. A passerby who who noticed something strange notified police. Other details were not immediately available.

EARLIER STORY:

MARIETTA, Pa. — The search continues for 704 pounds of dynamite and 400 blasting caps stolen last weekend from a pipeline construction site about 100 miles from the New Jersey border.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco posted a $20,000 reward "for information that leads to the recovery of the stolen explosives and/or the arrest and  conviction of those responsible for the theft" at the work site for the 37-mile long Atlantic Sunset Pipeline in Lancaster County.

The reward has helped generate some credible leads for the 50 ATF agents working on the case. Agents are interviewing hundreds of employees working at the Gregory General Contracting Company's site.

The explosives were kept inside a locked truck trailer, which was left on site after workers left on Friday, April 13,

"It's too early to rule out anything at this point. All the leads are being taken seriously," Charlene Hennessy, spokeswoman for the ATF's Philadelphia office, told New Jersey 101.5.

Lancaster Against Pipelines said the theft adds to their list of reason why the group opposes the pipeline.

"We can now add the fact that large quantities of explosives are being stored unsafely in our neighborhoods," the group posted on its Facebook page.

Hennessy called the site "a fairly large area" that employs several hundred people.

Theft and possession of stolen explosives is a federal crime that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the ATF hotline at 1-888-ATF-BOMB (888-283-2662).

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ