Do you know what dangers lurk within one mile of your home? How about five miles or fifteen miles from  your home? Our neighbors in north Louisiana who live near Camp Minden know all to well the dangers that are literally right down the road from them. There are millions of pounds of explosive propellent just sitting there awaiting a catalyst that could turn the entire surrounding area into a giant crater.

Right now the Environmental Protection Agency says the 15 million pounds of M6 propellant needs to be disposed of and soon. The agency recently approved a plan that would require the explosives to be incinerated in a closed container so as not to pollute the surrounding air with an open burn. Still some are questioning why the United States Army, the ones responsible for the propellant, are not using their much safer supercritical water oxidation method.

Explosive Service International has been selected to conduct the operation. The process will begin with construction of the actual incinerator. Once that facility is constructed then the methodical disposal of the highly unstable propellant will begin.

This does not mean that residents in and around the Camp Minden area are out of the woods. There is still plenty of time between now and the eventual elimination of the explosives. The fact that this propellant has been sitting for so long has many residents feeling uneasy about what could happen during the disposal process.

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