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KEY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT LEAD POLLUTION AT GUN CLUBS

To date, no study has found a shooting range to cause lead in water to exceed drinking water standards. In nearly all circumstances, lead in the soil is inert. It does not become dissolved and it does not find its way into the water table. There are certain exceptions to this. The most notable one is when lead shot falls on highly acidic soils. In this case, the lead can dissolve somewhat and migrate into the soil. You might test the pH of the soil in your shot fall zone. If it's below seven (neutral), you may want to apply an appropriate amount of limestone to raise the pH to a neutral level. Your local agricultural extension service could tell you how much lime you might need to apply, based on your pH level.

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Many years ago, before conventional hazardous waste landfills were built, what we now call hazardous waste was disposed in conventional landfills. Conventional landfills produce an acidic leachate (liquid) and acidified everything, and soluble metals (lead, chromium, etc.) could then leach into the groundwater. The problem is that this is the base criteria by which they (EPA) classify and regulate hazardous constituents. This is now no better than junk science, since this type of waste isn't generally placed in trash dumps and the fact that while found at shooting ranges, it poses little or no hazard to groundwater.