Federal environmental officials have overruled the Army's attempt to decline responsibility for explosive materials stored at a northwest Louisiana site.
The Environmental Protection Agency had ordered the Army to take charge of the improperly stored artillery propellant in March, but the Army appealed, saying it shouldn't have to clean up the 15 million pounds of M6 propellant that it shipped to Explo Systems at Camp Minden, a Louisiana National Guard installation.
The EPA rejected the appeal Wednesday, writing that the Army was responsible because it shouldn't have trusted that Explo could handle so much M6.
An investigator discovered the propellant after a 2012 explosion.
The EPA says three private owners — General Dynamics Corp., Alliant Techsystems and Ashland Inc. unit Hercules — are cleaning up their share.
