Protests Against Open Burn of Propellants at Camp Minden

Minden, Louisiana The EPA has announced plans to burn 15 million pounds of M6 propellant explosives housed at the National Guard's Camp Minden in rural Webster Parish, despite warnings from officials that doing so will release toxins into the atmosphere which may be harmful to those exposed.

It is believed that the toxins will rise approximately two miles into the atmosphere, with a potential to eventually cover the entire corner of the state, even spreading into Texas or Arkansas. Exposure may result in cancer or blood pressure problems as well as birth defects for children born to those exposed.

Many are voicing concern over the plans for an open burn as well as proposing alternative methods to dispose of the propellants, a nagging problem for the state since being abandoned at the base by Explo Systems Inc., which went bankrupt in 2013. In October, 2012, there was an explosion in one of the bunkers leased by the company. Upon investigating, the Louisiana State Police found that millions of pounds of the propellant, used for launching artillery shells, had been left behind. See December 2012 UXOInfo.com article.