For a few tense days this week, the port of Morehead City, one of the deepest-water ports on the East Coast, threatened to become even deeper when a forklift operator punctured a shipment of Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN. The accident cleared the city and shut down traffic on major roadways, then kept the port itself closed for additional days while the spill was cleaned up.

The American public became familiar with PETN when a Nigerian would-be suicide bomber failed to ignite the PETN hidden in his underwear while his plane was landing in Detroit. With that incident fresh in everyone’s mind, you would think that many questions would be asked about what this dangerous explosive was doing in Morehead City and where it was going.

Local officials aren’t talking. To its credit, the News and Observer’s editorial staff raised similar questions but doesn’t seem willing to commit the resources it takes to dig out the answers. Where was it bound? How could a forklift operator make such a mistake? And why did it take almost four hours after the spill to shut down U.S. 70 and evacuate the city? Who is responsible? Who will pay for the cleanup efforts?

I hope someone’s willing to get answers on this. As of now it’s still a mystery.