Did You Know That a Citizen in Your Community Can File a Civil Lawsuit, to Compel Your Firing Range to Clean Up?

Is Your Firing Range in Compliance with OSHA, EPA & RCRA with Required Regular Maintenance?

When Was the Last Time Your Firing Range had the Lead Removed? Are you willing (and able) to take this risk just to save a little money?

Keep in mind: under certain specific circumstances, range solid waste impacted with lead can be a RCRA Hazardous Waste. What does this mean for your range?

Improperly managed range soil or other backstop material, along with incorrectly collected, containerized and stored lead bullets or shot can trigger RCRA hazardous waste requirements and obligations for your range.

 

o Does your range cleanup and contractor crew really know what they are doing?

o Can they accurately communicate and prove to you, the range Owner/Operator, how they are keeping you out of a possible compliance nightmare situation with potentially thousands of dollars in fines and penalties?

Your choice of a lead reclamation contractor could expose your firing range to EPA hazardous waste fines up to $50,000 per DAY and potential criminal charges. Penalties double for subsequent violations

Sections 7002 and 7003 of the RCRA statute allow EPA, states or citizens to use civil lawsuits, to compel cleanup of or other action for “solid waste” (e.g., spent lead shot) posing actual or potential imminent and substantial endangerment. Since the risk of lead migrating increases with time, making ranges that have not removed lead more likely candidates for government action or citizen lawsuits under RCRA Section 7002 and 7003, ranges are advised to maintain a schedule of regular lead removal.

You may think that the job is done when your contractor rolls off of your property and tells you they will handle the lead and lead-waste… but as a matter of fact, you could be facing a painful EPA investigation by taking their word for it. Lead contaminated soil and waste (paper, PPE, filters, debris etc.) is commonly determined to be RCRA hazardous waste.

Your range may be liable for the negligent actions of the contractor you choose.

The Environmental Daily Advisor reported that there are 7 RCRA Violations That Can Send You to Jail and the #1 reason is one that should cause major concern, because if your contractor does this, you may be liable! It is: “Transport hazardous waste to a non-permitted facility.” Think about it, did you know this can be a criminal offense?
Did you ask the contractor on your last lead reclamation project how they would be handling YOUR lead waste or if the lead recycling facility they took YOUR lead to, is properly permitted?

 

For your protection, you must always maintain on-site written records of your Lead and Contaminated Waste Disposition!

 

When these violations come up, there may also be the additional consequence of an enforcement action for costly cleanup and remediation including Regulatory fines and penalties. Recent firing range environmental cases and projects have shown that a typical OSHA or EPA regulatory fine is in the range of $250,000-$500,000. Additionally, when the EPA has to step in, range cleanups with their oversight involved can be in the $5,000,000-$8,000,000 range.

A range owner ALWAYS retains responsibility for ALL lead waste and materials derived from their range regardless if they assumed their chosen contractor would take care of it.
This is what is commonly known as: “Cradle (generating the hazardous waste) to Grave” (disposal of the hazardous waste)

For your protection, your lead reclamation contractor must have sufficient assets and environmental liability coverage to protect range ownership from claims or occurrences of violations, penalties and cleanup expenses due to contractor negligence…even if it is not intentional!

These points are critical because a contract indemnification from a BANKRUPT contractor is not worth the paper it’s written on. Why would they go bankrupt? Because of OSHA or EPA violations and fines that they could not pay or resulting from: Under capitalization, Shoddy regulatory compliance, Volatility of lead pricing or Under-bid projects.

When dealing with the environmental hazards of lead, you simply CANNOT assign the risk away. You always retain significant liability and risk for your waste.

 

5 critical validations you must demand from your contractor to protect you and your range:

 

1. Contractor must be able to document, with audited financials, sufficient company assets that could allow it to sustain defending a claim or actual violation without going bankrupt.
(Suggested is minimum $500,000 and preferred is $1,000,000)

2. Comprehensive insurance package:

• • • Minimum $5 Million General AND Pollution Liability. Pollution Liability is the only coverage for lead and hazardous materials.
    • Recent Certificate of Insurance and range named as additionally insured and include Worker’s Comp and auto liability.

3. Comprehensive contract with FULL owner-indemnification to protect and defend against all contractor activities and a list of prior regulatory agency violations, fines or penalties from any Agency.

4. Minimum 5 years (preferably 10 years) of continuous operating history with business registrations with minimum five prior similar projects successfully completed in the last 3 years.

5. Comprehensive written work and safety/health plans specific to the range and a detailed waste-management plan describing actual activities to occur, and providing certification for all transport and disposal. Do NOT take the contractor’s word for it. Get it in writing.

Upon request, MT2 will immediately provide you with the above documentation.

 

 

Rest assured: MT2 is committed to stand with you to defend your firing range from the liability of lead hazards.

MT2 NEVER Generates Hazardous Waste.
GUARANTEED. (call for details)

• MT2 is the Leading Nationwide Professional Lead Reclamation Contractor for BOTH Indoor & Outdoor Firing Ranges.
• MT2’s patented ECOBOND® lead treatment technology, prior EPA approved, has been used on over 10 million tons of waste; providing a unique solution eliminating the need to generate hazardous waste, saving money and minimizing range owner liability.
• MT2, as the Nation’s leading provider of environmental and maintenance firing range services, serving over 1,200 public and private indoor and outdoor firing ranges for military, law enforcement and municipalities nationwide in all 50 States since 2000. MT2 is committed to protecting law enforcement officers who protect and serve our communities.
• MT2 carries $10,000,000 of General AND Lead Pollution Liability & Worker’s Comp Insurance
• MT2’s proven record of firing range services include: complete range maintenance & improvements, lead remediation services, lead reclamation, OSHA & environmental consulting, operational maintenance and range closure. Our zero-tolerance for regulatory violations gives range owners the peace of mind that their project will be successfully completed on a guaranteed schedule.
• Over the past decade, MT2 has recycled over 12 MILLION tons of lead, returning over $5,600,000 dollars to ranges owners without a single regulatory violation, while working closely with range owners to implement firing range Best Management Practices (BMPs).

 

No one can complete your project quicker than MT2!

Gun Range

DNR Representative Projects

 

Pennsylvania Game Commission Statewide Lead Recovery and Firing Range Maintenance – Harrisburg, PA: MT2 was selected by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, to perform environmental lead recovery, monitoring, and maintenance activities for 47 firing ranges state-wide and for the preparation of Environmental Stewardship Plans for each range. All lead activities were performed to EPA Firing Range Best Management Practices guidelines and applicable Pennsylvania regulations. MT2 recovered lead and brass bullets and bullet fragments from impact areas, sampled, analyzed and monitored soil conditions, recycled recovered lead and brass, and chemically converted potential leachable lead fines remaining in the soils such that the resulting soils were considered non-hazardous and could be replaced back onto the berms. MT2 excavated, screened, and treated approximately 10,000 of lead impacted soils with levels up to 1,737 mg/L TCLP. MT2 recovered and recycled approximately 100,000 pounds of lead.

Northborough Former Fish & Game Site Contaminated Soil and Sediment Remediation; Northborough, MA – MT2 was contracted to perform soil and sediment remediation associated with high concentrations of lead and arsenic in soils at the former Northborough Fish and Game site in compliance with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and US EPA requirements. MT2 completed excavation, treatment with ECOBOND® of arsenic and lead-impacted soils/sediments and transportation and disposal.
Tasks included
1) Site preparation and pre-remediation tasks including erosion controls, preparation of access roads, clear vegetation, de-watering, installation of a temporary swale and stream diversion
2) Bench scale treatability testing, to determine the appropriate amount of ECOBOND® Pb and As to be used to reduce leachable levels of metals in the soil and sediment to below RCRA thresholds
3) In-situ chemical treatment soils exceeding RCRA hazardous waste levels with MT2’s ECOBOND® technology rendering them non-hazardous for disposal
4) Excavation of contaminated soil and sediment up to approximately 2 feet below grade
5) Transportation and disposal to a nonhazardous landfill for ECOBOND® treated soils
6) Removal and off-site management of clay pigeons
7) Final site restoration and demobilization including restoration of wetlands in accordance with the wetland restoration protocol and applicable permits and approvals.

 

 

Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources National Capital Trap and Skeet Lead Recovery & Range Remediation – Montgomery County, Maryland: MT2 was retained by Maryland Department of Natural Resources to address the environmental remediation of lead contamination at National Capital Trap and Skeet Club, Seneca Creek State Park, Montgomery County, Maryland. Lead contamination at this site results from years of Trap and Skeet Club use caused the accumulation of lead pellets down range of the club. The environmental impact of lead contamination was of particular concern since the site is located in the floodplain of Great Seneca Creek and the Chesapeake Bay within Seneca Creek State Park. An area consisting of 9.7 acres was identified for remediation.
MT2 developed and implemented a technical approach based on protecting the sensitive natural environment of wetlands and an active waterway. The key was to treat the Pb contamination via in-situ methods while at the same time protecting the active waterway that ran through the site and is part of the Chesapeake Water System, protecting the wetlands, and protecting the forest/trees.

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Horton State Park Skeet Range; Chapel Hill, TN: MT2 was contracted to perform environmental lead recovery activities at the Henry Horton State Park Skeet Range in association with the Friends of Henry Horton State Park, Inc. (FOHH). The range is located at 4358 Nashville Hwy Chapel Hill, Tennessee. MT2’s project objectives were to support the FOHH in improving shooter safety and in mitigating potential physical, occupational, and environmental hazards associated with high concentrations of lead in the range soils; as well as achieving compliance with USEPA and NRA recommended firing range environmental Best Management Practices (BMPs). All lead recovery activities were performed to EPA Firing Range Best Management Practices guidelines and applicable state of Tennessee regulations. MT2 recovered shot from shot fall areas and replaced processed soils back onto the range.
Range maintenance tasks included:
1) Excavated and processed range materials
2) Removed lead shot from range soils to achieve approximately 80-90% removal
3) Replaced the processed soils onto the active range, which allowed shooting to commence within the scheduled time.
Utilizing MT2’s proprietary lead recovery technology and deployment processes, MT2 recovered an estimated 223,000 pounds (111.5 tons) of lead for recycling, providing the client with a lead recycling credit of approximately $60,000.

 

 

 

 

Firing Range Environmental Assessment – USDA FS Daniel Boone National Forest: MT2 in conjunction with Dick Peddicord and Company, was selected to perform to provide all necessary labor, materials, equipment, tools, transportation, and supervision required to perform environmental range assessment tasks and plan preparation. MT2 accomplished the required tasks in compliance with US EPA established firing range environmental Best Management Practices (BMP) as well as all other applicable federal, state and local standards. MT2’s project objectives were to support the USDA Forest Service in meeting EPA and NRA recommended Best Management Practices (BMP) through the development of site-specific Environmental Stewardship Plans (ESP) to characterize conditions for four shooting ranges (Clear Creek, Whitman Branch, Appletree, and Keno), provide BMP recommendations pertaining to range maintenance and operations, and prepare safety plans for each range.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colorado Division of Wildlife Indoor Firing Range Lead Removal and Facility Decontamination; Grand Junction, CO:
MT2 was contracted to perform indoor range lead recovery and facility dismantling/decontamination in preparation of range improvement projects. MT2 provided lead decontamination including bullet and water removal from the trap, HEPA vacuum and wipe-down of non-porous surfaces, and ECOBOND® LBP lead treatment of porous surfaces to support less expensive disposal of these materials as non-hazardous waste. MT2 applied ECOBOND® LBP lead stabilization reagent to porous surfaces requiring dismantling/ decontamination in order to bind the lead dust and render the material as non-hazardous. MT2 utilized a TrapVac system to separate lead from rubber trap material for recycling and to reuse rubber. MT2’s lead separation technologies provided a 95% lead recovery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area; Firing Range Lead Reclamation and Reconstruction
MT2 was contracted to provide cost-effective firing range lead reclamation and berm reconstruction at the Indian DNR Willow Slough Wildlife Area Practice Shooting range. As a result of high usage, portions of the backstop berms were saturated with lead, increasing the potential for ricochet off berms back towards the firing area (splash-back). The project objectives were to support the DNR in preventing potential environmental and/or safety issues by removing lead from soils at the range, recycling recovered lead, and restoring processed range berm soils to operational configuration for continued use and improve future lead recovery efforts. To support planned IN DNR range improvements and new range design specifications, all work was performed in compliance with state of Indiana, OSHA, and USEP Best Management Practices. SWPPP measures were performed in a controlled manner to minimize generation of dust. Proceeds from lead recycling (less associated costs for containers, pallets & transport) were provided to the Client as a cost offset. MT2 met the project schedule with no safety incidents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research sources:

• EPA fines
  
• EPA Hazardous Waste Cleanup
  
• RCRA Violations
  
• Transporting Hazardous Waste

 

Getting the lead out since 2000! Our extensive field experience, outstanding safety record, and advanced ECOBOND® technology has positioned MT2 as a national leader in providing Firing Range Services, Remediation, and overall Construction Services. This has been proven in all 50 states on over 1,000 projects involving over 1,000,000 tons of hazardous and environmentally impacted soil, waste, and debris. More About MT2 >