HLS 15RS-1374 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 172
BY REPRESENTATIVE REYNOLDS
ENVIRONMENT/AIR: Directs the Louisiana National Guard not to accept certain waste
at Camp Minden
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To direct the Louisiana National Guard not to accept waste explosives at Camp Minden after
3 August 1, 2015.
4 WHEREAS, during the response to the explosion that occurred at the Explo Systems,
5Inc., operations at Camp Minden in 2012, responders discovered a large quantity of the
6waste artillery propellant, M6, improperly stored; and
7 WHEREAS, shortly after relocating the waste into buildings and bunkers on Camp
8Minden, Explo Systems, Inc., filed bankruptcy, leaving the Louisiana National Guard with
9ownership of fifteen million pounds of the propellant; and
10 WHEREAS, in pertinent part, federal regulation 40 CFR Part 265.382 provides that
11the "open burning of hazardous waste is prohibited except for the open burning and
12detonation of waste explosives. Waste explosives include waste which has the potential to
13detonate and bulk military propellants which cannot safely be disposed of through other
14modes of treatment."; and
15 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality adopted a similar
16rule banning the open burning of hazardous waste but created an exemption for waste
17explosives; and
18 WHEREAS, the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requires that all
19hazardous wastes are managed in a manner that is protective of human health and the
20environment; and
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HLS 15RS-1374 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, open burning of waste explosives poses a danger to the health and
2safety of citizens and threatens the economic development of the state; and
3 WHEREAS, the same concerns that resulted in prohibiting the open burning of
4hazardous waste should be applicable to prohibiting the open burning and detonation of
5waste explosives; and
6 WHEREAS, experts at the United States Environmental Protection Agency state that
7based on experience and research "open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) is a relatively
8uncontrolled, dirty, polluting technology" and that an open burn at Camp Minden, Louisiana,
9would require "an extensive and costly clean up/remedial action"; and
10 WHEREAS, along with local leaders, elected officials, and thousands of citizens in
11north Louisiana, the cities of Minden, Doyline, Sibley, and Bossier and Shreveport, Webster
12and Caddo parishes, the Caddo school board, the Jenkins Community Water System, the
13Minden Chamber of Commerce, and the Louisiana Municipal Association expressed
14concerns about the safety of the proposed open burn; and
15 WHEREAS, the Camp Minden Dialogue Committee brought together citizens, local
16scientists, elected officials, representatives from the Louisiana National Guard, the
17Department of Environmental Quality, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
18Region 6, and the United States Army for thirty days to review and evaluate alternatives to
19the proposed open burn of the M6 propellant at Camp Minden; and
20 WHEREAS, this committee found that multiple alternative disposal technologies
21exist; and
22 WHEREAS, likewise, over the past fifteen years the United States Department of
23Defense Explosives Safety Board has certified a number of alternative disposal technologies
24as safe for the destruction of hazardous wastes that are explosive; and
25 WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana, the United States Environmental Protection
26Agency, and the citizens of North Louisiana are currently working together to select and
27implement an alternative technology for the disposal of the M6 propellant; and
28 WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana should take steps to protect its citizens by
29preventing a dangerous situation like Camp Minden from ever occurring again.
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HLS 15RS-1374 ORIGINAL
1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Louisiana Legislature does hereby direct
2the Louisiana National Guard not accept waste explosives at Camp Minden brought into the
3state after August 1, 2015.
4 BE IT FURTHERED RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
5the adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 172 Original 2015 Regular Session Reynolds
Directs the La. National Guard not accept any more waste explosives at Camp Minden
brought into the state after August 1, 2015.
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