The Debate Over Bombs

On Tuesday we reportedon Councilman Doug Hawkins’ efforts to block the construction of a police storage facility near the Cardinal Hill reservoir. The Mayor and the bomb squad, who would be managing the facility, say there’s no need for concern.Hawkins opposes the facility because it is close to a 30 million gallon water storage facility in his district. He says the bomb squad told him they would store un-detonated explosives at the facility, along with extra ammunition and other police supplies. Hawkins expressed his concern that the explosives could go off and damage the reservoir and that there may be chemical or biological weapons stored there.The councilman held a community meeting yesterday and used autodialing, e-mails and this YouTube video to alert his constituents.The mayor criticized Hawkins, saying he doesn’t have his facts straight, and today the Courier-Journal summarized the meeting, where the bomb squad addressed safety concerns, saying there would not be biological weapons stored and that most of the explosives would be antique war memorabilia and illegal fireworks.The squad couldn’t speculate on how the facility might affect property values.Today I asked Mayor Abramson about storing bombs near a reservoir. He responded, “What bombs? You mean confiscated fireworks?”Abramson went on to say basically what the bomb squad officials say in the C-J article.