An Explosive Crisis: Government Bickering Clouds Cleanup Effort at Camp Minden

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http://truth-out.org/news/item/28826-an-explosive-crisis-government-bickering-clouds-cleanup-effort-at-camp-minden



It's been two years since investigators discovered 15 million pounds of M-6 artillery propellent illegally and haphazardly stored at Camp Minden

An Explosive Crisis: Government Bickering Clouds Cleanup Effort at Camp Minden
Friday, 30 January 2015 11:21
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report

More than two years have passed since investigators found 15 million pounds of hazardous and potentially explosive artillery munitions waste known as M-6 at the Camp Minden military facility in northwest Louisiana, but the government's plan for cleaning up the mess is once again unclear as federal regulators haggle with an angry public and the Jindal administration.

On January 15, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Louisiana state officials would have an extra 90 days to choose a contractor and a disposal method for cleaning up M-6 propellant, 15 million pounds of which was illegally stashed at Camp Minden by a private US Army contractor and discovered after a massive explosion rocked the area two years ago. The extension would give authorities time to consider alternatives to the original plan - burning the waste in open trays at the site.

Opposition to the so-called "open burn" had reached a fever pitch. In December, a local scientist pointed out that chemicals within the M-6 have been linked to cancer and birth defects. Fearing that pollutants from the open burn would enter the air unabated and contaminate neighboring communities with cancer-causing vapors, concerned citizens launched a campaign to demand that authorities find a cleaner alternative for disposing of the waste.

The number of burn opponents on social media quickly grew by the thousands as word spread from the neighboring towns of Doyline and Minden to the nearby city of Shreveport. Environmentalists across the country, including famed environmental attorney Erin Brockovich, signed petitions and letters opposing the open burn. Lawmakers, local officials and environmental justice experts demanded that the government listen to the concerns of its citizens.