Lead-contaminated soil was removed from outside a Bellevue gun range, but environmental regulators say they haven’t received confirmation the job was fully completed.
The excavation of soil took place in February at Bellevue Indoor Range, part of Wade’s Gun Shop, where workers were exposed to high levels of toxic lead during a remodeling project last fall.
On June 4 the state Department of Ecology informed the shop on Northeast Bel-Red Road that it was being added to a state list of sites contaminated by hazardous substances.
The state Department of Labor and Industries last month fined Wade’s $23,480 for 17 alleged violations of safety rules in connection with the exposure of workers to lead during the addition of a second floor to the gun range and removal of the sand bullet trap.
Forty-seven workers employed by Wade’s or construction contractors were found to have elevated levels of lead after receiving blood tests last fall. Twenty-four reported symptoms consistent with lead poisoning, Public Health-Seattle & King County reported.
Ecology’s Altose said lead levels in the excavated soil were not exceptionally high, and any possible remaining contamination would be in locations where there isn’t a great likelihood of public exposure.
Wade’s owner Wade Gaughran could not be reached for comment.
Naturally the pro-gun guys keep telling us this is not a real problem. But, it seems to be when you multiply this story times all the gun ranges out there, it's big.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
After reading the source article, I see that you left out relevant information. The shop here poured contaminated water out in the parking lot, causing lead levels to be higher in the soil there. This isn't a problem with shooting ranges in general. It's a case of possible misconduct by one range.
ReplyDeleteWhen the prosecution omits, that's misconduct. When you do it, Mikeb, you call it fun.
And what, pray tell, is the "This" that is a real problem? Range Safety, range environmental impact? Lead in ammo?
ReplyDeleteYou're going to have to be more clear about what is the broad, important issue if you expect anyone to understand and listen to you.
It cracks me up to see the hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth, and tearing of hair about the lead put into the ground at gun ranges. Guess what the lead was taken out of, before it was made into bullets.
ReplyDeleteI suppose, being a libertarian-minded guy, you opposed the government's efforts to eliminate lead in gasoline too.
DeleteI suppose, being a libertarian-minded guy, you opposed the government's efforts to eliminate lead in gasoline too.
DeleteA not unreasonable guess, but wrong, in this case. Just as I cannot claim to be among the hardest of the hard core gun rights advocates, I am also fairly middle-of-the-road as a libertarian.
I accept some government administered and enforced protections of the environment, and don't really see that as being in conflict with libertarian principles.
Mike, there is a huge difference between exposure from lead bullets vs. leaded gasoline. First of all, lead from gasoline exhaust is airborne giving it an easy path into the respiratory system. Second, lead in gasoline is an organic compound as opposed to elemental lead, and is far more dangerous. Lastly, the lead in gasoline serves no purpose- it is a trace element that was in the crude. The engine doesn’t need it, and performs better without it. Bullets, on the other hand, are intentionally made from lead specifically for its properties as a projectile. Your gasoline comparison was a poor one.
DeleteMikeb, lead in gasoline enters the atmosphere in the form of tetraethyllead. That's easily absorbed into the bloodstream of people breathing the gas. By contrast, elemental solid lead in bullets is akin to the mineral lead that is mined in the first place.
DeleteIt's interesting to note that the drop in violent crime correlates to the removal of lead from gasoline--with a twenty year lag, what one would expect if lead exposure is the most dangerous in childhood. That's one observation I just ran across. But as long as people aren't eating the soil from ranges by the shovelful, the accumulated lead there is like an ore deposit.
Here is some craziness for you Mike. Ammunition manufacturers would gladly use alternate materials for bullets for target ranges ... but then they would be "guilty" of making "armor piercing" or "cop killer" bullets. That's right. Our government has mandated the use of lead for handgun bullets. Why? Because our government thinks bullets made of other materials will penetrate police officers' bullet proof vests and the only material that is "squishy" enough to flatten against (and thus fail to penetrate through) is lead. Of course lead is not a very nice material and lots of people want to eliminate lead from the environment (and rightly so in my opinion).
ReplyDeleteRather than use inexpensive, environmentally safe, and firearm friendly materials, our government has forced us to use moderately expensive, hazardous, although firearm friendly materials. It makes you wonder if our government is systematically working toward making all bullets "illegal".
- TruthBeTold
I see. It's another example of the poor persecuted gun owners being unfairly treated.
DeleteHey hey! Another Classic MikeB diversion: When someone articulately points out a genuine problem in the law, don't actually debate the issue. Instead: Ridicule them and accuse them of having a persecution complex!
DeleteAfter All, it's horribly unreasonable of a gun owner or hunter to ask that SOME type of ammunition be legal to use.
When you show your bigotry, you help our side, Mikeb.
Delete