Lead leaching??

[bigdog454]

Anyone know where I can get information on lead leaching into ground water from bullets? I have the opertunity of removing soil that has been used as a backstop of a shooting range for 30 years so that the property can be sold, and the buyer is now saying that I need to have EPA permits and hazmat equipment to do it. I think that he is just trying to get the seller to lower the price.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Check with the National Rifle Association (you a member?)

I remember reading about a study that had been completed not long ago about lead contamination on rifle ranges, etc. and they found no environmental effects.

I think that is probably where I saw it.
Might even be on their web site.

Sift the dirt removed and get the lead out- extra benefit!

[beagle]

The NRA's the place to start.

I remember reading an article on lead leaching done on one of the major civil war battlefields in Virginia and the ajacent stream water quality. Research was done by one of the major universities I beleive in Virginia.

They found that after all these years, the water quality was as good as in any stream not adjacent to a battlefield contaminated with lead projectiles so the lead content made no difference after all those years.

The concensus of the article was that bullets and other lead objects oxidized and the oxidized surface kind of sealed the lead after a few years and the lead was kind of capsulated and no more lead eneterd the watershed system.

INteresting article if you can find it./beagle

[GabbyM]

Most states will require EPA permits to move the soil off site.
That doesn't mean it's all that big a deal. I don't know anything about Ohio but the States EPA will probably be involved in a land sale already.

When they harvest lead from the trap ranges here. Contractors have machines like potato diggers that scoop up soil separate the shot then re deposit the soil back where it came. It's a required clean up on a scheduled basis here in Illinois now. No big deal as the clubs make money since the lead is worth way more than the contractors fee.

Calling the State EPA would be the way to go. Don't think you'll slide this under the radar because it won't work out good for you. Just think of it as getting a building permit. I think you'll end up processing the soil on site. If not you'll have to show the EPA where the soil ended up.

At my local range a couple decades ago. One day we got their and someone had pulled in with a dump truck and end loader. Scooped out the face of the rifle range berm and hauled it off. Took three or four truck loads of dirt to rebuild the berm.

[WILCO]

the buyer is now saying that I need to have EPA permits and hazmat equipment to do it. I think that he is just trying to get the seller to lower the price.

Call an Attorney...........

[Rooster]

Lawyer up in this day and age. EPA is not an agency to thumb one's nose at as they have a lot of power they may bring to bear. Environmental issues last a lifetime and then some in their eyes so make sure what you are doing is done correctly.



As for studies: "Environmental Impacts of Lead Pellets at Shooting Ranges
and Arsenical Herbicides onGolf Courses in Florida" discusses this a bit. Dr. Ma is with the IFAS Soil Science Department at the University of Florida and has been studying this for quite a while.

I'd look for more, but that one should keep you busy enough reading and I'm surfin' at the moment. I'll be back later if anyone is interested in this kind of stuff. Google Dr. Ma and lead studies for more info.