NOFLAC

The following documents show how spent lead shot can damage the environment:

Best Management Practices for Lead at Outdoor Shooting Ranges – EPA 2001

Studies – the impact of lead shot on the environment:

• CA condors (PDF) During studies in the 1980s on wild condors in California, Noel Snyder came to the conclusion that lead poisoning from spent ammunition was the primary cause of death in condors.
• Restoring Iowa’s Nahant Marsh: (PDF) Between 1969 and 1995, the Quad Cities Trap and Skeet Gun Club conducted target practice at Nahant marsh. During this time, an estimated 240 tons of lead shot pellets settled in the Marsh bottom mud.
• Abandoned Shooting Range (DOC)  Abandoned shooting club leaves $18 million bill for taxpayers (Palo Alto)
• School cleanup due to lead shot: While collecting information for the Peters project, EPA officials discovered an aerial photograph taken in the late 1950s of the school property. The photo indicates the site where the junior high and adjacent fields now sit was a trap and skeet gun club; the lead contamination at the campus is from the club.
• Dallas Gun Club/Former Rifle Range: (PDF) Excavation of 20,500 cubic yards of lead impacted soil >50 PPM using the XRF.
• The State of the Gun Industry – Violence Policy Center – 2002 (PDF)
• SENECA ARMY DEPOT NEW YORK – Munitions lead contamination – 2002 (PDF)
• Groundwater contamination from lead shot – Prime Hook NWR, Deleware – 2003 (PDF)
• Lead Issues at Small Arms Firing Ranges – OLQ Geological Services – 2000 (PDF)
• Weathering of Lead Bullets and Their Environmental Effects at Outdoor Shooting Ranges – 2003 (PDF)
• Lead transformation and distribution in the soils of shooting ranges in FL (PDF)
• SITE ASSESSMENT UNION MINE GUN RANGE EL DORADO COUNTY CA (PDF)
• Small Arms Firing Range Maintenance and Management Guidance – IRTC 2003 (PDF)
• Environmental Impacts of Lead Pellets at Shooting Ranges – FL 2000 (PDF)
• PENINSULA SPORTSMEN’S CLUB – City and County San Francisco remediation (PDF)
• Birdwatchers of Groveton vs Suave Real Properties (PDF)
• The effects of shooting range lead shot on the sand-dwelling animals in the near shore waters of Lake Michigan: In an attempt to determine the effects of lead shot on sand dwelling animals, Lake Michigan sands were surveyed in areas impacted by the Lincoln Park Gun Club and a control area. (PDF)

Blacksburg, VA shooting range studies:

• Lead distribution on a public shotgun range – 2002 (PDF)
  
• Dissolution, transport, and fate of lead on shooting ranges (PDF)
  
• Final Report – National Forest Service’s Blacksburg shooting range (PDF)
  

Laws, rules and recommendations for lead and metals contamination at gun clubs and firing ranges:

• NY DEC shifts to lead-free shot (DOC) The state Department of Environmental Conservation is reducing its negative impact on the environment by giving up lead-based bullets used for firearms training in favor of less harmful “green” ammunition.
• United States EPA munitions rule: February 1997
• Do You Use Best Management Practices for Lead at Your Outdoor Shooting Range (EPA brochure) (PDF)
• Re: Petition for Adoption of Regulations to Prevent Land and Water Contamination from Recreational Activities (shooting ranges) (PDF)
• Chemical Stabilization of Lead in Small ArmsFiring Range Soils 2003 (PDF) U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
• FIRING RANGE WASTE MANAGEMENT – National Parks Service 1999 (PDF)
  
• Lead Pollution at Outdoor Firing Ranges – EWG – 2001 (PDF)
• Environmental Laws as They Apply to Shooting Ranges – Leo P. Dombrowski Attorney – Fourth Annual Shooting Range Symposium (PDF)
• BMP for Lead at Outdoor Shooting Ranges – EPA (PDF)
  
• Investigation and Remediation of a Small Arms Firing Range – Coast Guard – 2003 (PowerPoint)
• Environmental Management at Operating Outdoor Small Arms Firing Ranges – IRTC 2005 (PDF)
• GCL Environmental Stewardship Plan (500013-8) (PDF)
• Corrective Action at Outdoor Shooting Ranges – Colorado 2005: The purpose of this document is to provide owners and operators of outdoor small arms (50 caliber or smaller) shooting ranges with guidance for the closure of active ranges and remediation of closed or abandoned ranges. (PDF)

International studies and information:

• New Zealand study (PDF)
• European Commission – Risks to Health and the Environment Related to the Use of lead in products: Lead shot is the most important contributor of lead emissions to soil (PDF)
  

Miscellaneous:

• Proposed TX Gun Club (PDF) Draft Environmental Assessment: Hill Country Shooting Sports
• Case Studies – how ranges manage to stay open – NRA – 1996 (DOC)
• MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET- Lead Metal (PDF)