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Camp Minden

Jan. 18
The News-Star, Monroe, Louisiana, on Camp Minden:
A flurry of grassroots activity last week bought a little more time for the disposal of the 15 million pounds of explosive material stored at Camp Minden. On Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6 office granted a 90-day extension of the compliance order requiring the disposal of the M6 propellant.
It just goes to show that when concerned citizens join forces, change can happen. And in this case, even a small change is a victory.
The key contention for many concerned citizens and lawmakers from the region has been the approved method for getting rid of the material. An open tray burn method was specified in an October agreement between the EPA, the Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Army and the Louisiana Military Department. Disposal was scheduled to begin this spring after bidding for the project that was to wrap up on Jan. 21.
The site has been a thorn in the side of the state since 2012 when an explosion in one of Explo Systems Inc.’s leased bunkers rocked the area, rattling homes in Doyline, shattering windows in Minden four miles away, and creating a 7,000-foot mushroom cloud. A subsequent investigation by state police found the millions of pounds of propellant stored in 98 bunkers scattered around Camp Minden. M6 is used as an explosive propellant for launching artillery shells. The Army sold the M6 to Explo for demilitarization. In 2013 Explo went bankrupt, abandoning the material.
Although other methods, including enclosed incineration, were examined initially, there has been little information offered about what potential impact there might be when it comes to health and environment. It seems they may have been waiting for those studies to come after a test open burn was performed last month without public notification.
To us, this whole process seems kind of backward coming from an agency supposedly looking out for our health and environmental interests. Deciding upon a disposal method before knowing the potential impact is wrong.
According to state Rep. Gene Reynolds of Minden, the EPA cannot say its process is safe because the amount of material scheduled to be burned (about 80,000 pounds a day) has never been done before. “They kept saying it was safe but gave no proof,” he said following a meeting with them last week.
Make no mistake, we are as eager as the state is to get rid of this M6 which experts say is becoming more and more unstable and susceptible to another possible explosion this summer, but we need to do it in the safest, cleanest manner possible.
The question we must now clear up is do we have that in the open tray burn? We’re not so sure based on recent commentaries from LSU-Shreveport chemistry professor Brian A. Salvatore and Bob Flournoy, an environmental toxicologist and former Louisiana Tech professor.
They both raise some ominous questions about the chosen method of disposal for the M6. We too believe the option for a closed incineration needs more exploration.
During November’s public meeting on the issue in Minden, EPA regional Superfund director Carl Edlund assured those in attendance the controlled open burn is the least expensive and safest way. He said it was a standard recommended disposal approach that would be safe with little impact on the environment. Fleming raises another interesting question in regards to that. About money.
“I’m not buying it. My intuition tells me the issue here is money,” he said. “If the EPA is working with the Army to do the cheapest method and not the safest method, I’ll be very disappointed.”
The Army has already sent the state $20 million to pay for the disposal.
So the real question we should be asking is are we getting our money’s worth?
Online:
http://www.thenewsstar.com

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