BATON ROUGE — House Concurrent Resolution 172, a resolution that would ban the acceptance of hazardous waste munitions at Camp Minden, passed to the House floor with a unanimous vote.
That’s according to state Rep. Gene Reynolds, who has led the way legislatively to stop the open burn of millions of pounds of M6 artillery propellant stored at Camp Minden.
“It passed to the House floor with complete support and several members of the committee adding their names as co-authors,” Reynolds said in a post to his constituents. “My testimony was information about our journey with the M6 issue and ended with the statement that we, the people of District 10 and surrounding areas, are telling the Louisiana Military Department that we never want Camp Minden to receive any waste explosives again, EVER.”
In part, the resolution reads, “Therefore, be it resolved, that the Louisiana Legislature does hereby direct the Louisiana National Guard not accept waste explosives at Camp Minden brought into the state after August 1, 2015.”
This resolution is only part of a hard-fought battle to keep the environment and the people living in the surrounding areas of Camp Minden safe.
In recent months, the people came together and formed an EPA-sponsored dialogue committee to suggest other alternatives to the open tray burn method of disposal of the M6 propellant left behind by Explo Systems, Inc.
One of six methods suggested was chosen – and it wasn’t the open tray burn. A review committee looked at 10 bids and recommended Explosive Services International, a Baton Rouge-based company that will dispose of the M6 by contained burn with a pollution abatement system that is supposed to keep hazardous gases produced by burning from entering the atmosphere.
Coroner’s Bill
Reynolds says he’s pulling the coroner’s bill that would have put on the ballot an ad valorem tax to support the Webster Parish Coroner’s Office to relieve municipalities and the police jury from having to pay the heavy costs associated with the coroner’s office – such as autopsies.
He says the reason he pulled the bill is because within the next year a new coroner will come in. Even though it’s garnered support in Baton Rouge, Reynolds says some are saying it would be a better idea to wait until next year.
“The coroner people have said they didn’t want to bring it before the people this fall,” he said. “It would be the next fall. We will just pull that bill intact and bring it up again next year when the new coroner comes in and see what they want to do.”
City Judge Bill
This bill, that would generate a little more income for Minden City Judge’s office and Ward I, has been pulled.
Reynolds says it met some opposition, and it needs more work.
“It’s not a piece of legislation that I think is ready, so I’m pulling it,” he said.
City Judge Sherb Sentell says if the bill had gone through, it would have helped generate more funding to allow them to purchase new court software as well as employ a juvenile officer and offer programs to the youth who come through city court.