[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS: Open Burning/Open Detonation in Colfax, LA

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

'This is ridiculous': Public hearing on the only burn pit allowed in the United States gets heated

By Walter Einenkel
Daily Kos
December 19, 2022 

Like many parts of the United States, Colfax, Louisiana, has a long history of deeply rooted institutional racism. One of Colfax’s distinctions in this terrible story is that time and time again, Louisiana and our government have sanctioned attacks, both physical and environmental, on the Black community of Colfax. Colfax has the only commercial facility in the country that is allowed to burn explosives and munitions with virtually no emissions controls—and has been doing so for the military for decades.

On Thursday, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing for Colfax residents and environmentalists where residents and others once again called for an end to Clean Harbors’ hazardous waste operating permit in Colfax. Clean Harbors has been allowed to operate what is clearly a violation of clean air laws, using loopholes provided by Louisiana representatives. The reason Clean Harbors has continued to do this is because it is the cheapest method of doing their job. It is also the oldest and least safe method of waste disposal.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/19/2142719/--This-would-not-happen-in-Massachusetts-Louisiana-officials-try-to-permit-last-toxic-burn-pits?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)

_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org