Lead contamination at gun clubs and firing ranges is an environmental problem that requires focused attention. Why is lead a concern at gun clubs and firing ranges? According to the EPA’s Best Management Practices: It is estimated that approximately four percent (4%) (80,000 tons/year) of all the lead produced in the United States in the late [...]
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Tags: contamination, firing range, gun club, Lead, lead contamination, Metals 
No Comments »Not only is lead a major source of gun club/firing range contamination, metals can also pose a contamination problem. Additional metals that may be found at firing ranges include copper, nickel, antimony, zinc, barium, cadmium and arsenic. The type and amount of munitions used at a shooting range along with the environmental setting and operational [...]
Posted in Metals Tags: contamination, firing range, gun club, Lead, lead contamination, Metals, metals contamination No Comments »
Lead can leach into soil and contaminate groundwater. According to the EPA’s Best Management Practices: Dissolved lead can migrate through soils to groundwater Acidic rainwater may dissolve weathered lead compounds. A portion of the lead may be transported in solution in groundwater beneath land surfaces. Groundwater may transport lead in solution from the higher topographic [...]
Although outdoor firing ranges put more lead into the environment than nearly any other major industrial sector in the United States, they remain almost entirely unregulated. In just two years a typical outdoor firing range can have lead contamination equivalent to a five-acre Superfund site. Lead weathering generally occurs whenever lead pellets come into contact [...]
While it’s not often mentioned, wildlife can be greatly affected by spent lead shot. The following example illustrates the destructiveness that lead shot can cause: Southern Lakes Trap and Skeet Club Site, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, et al. In 1992, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began an investigation to determine the cause of death [...]
The EPA has developed a set of Best Management Practices for gun clubs and firing ranges. Lead management practices at ranges across the United States remain inconsistent. Some range owners/operators have examined the impact of range operations on human health and the environment and have implemented procedures to manage and/or remove accumulated lead from ranges. [...]
Posted in Lead Tags: best management practices, contamination, firing range, gun club, Lead, lead contamination, Metals, metals contamination, soil No Comments »
