# EPA to shut down last lead smelting plant in U.S.



## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

More backdoor gun control. Prices likely to skyrocket.

" There are numerous alarming reasons why the US government and the military have been buying up all the ammo. Hereâs one of them. Obama and the EPA just shut down the last lead smelting plant in the US. They raised the EPA regulations by 10 fold and it would have cost the plant $100 million to comply. You can own all the guns you want, but if you canât get ammo, you are out of luck."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3084959/posts

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## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

That's the big talk right now on numerous gun sites also.I got into airguning a year or so ago "cause I could see the gov. keeping ammo out of our hands but never considered they would also go after lead. We are a country based on freedom and have less and less all the time.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Arg...I got blind sided by that one, but I don't read many gun forums, yet DH does. Wonder if he knew??? Glad we are recovering lead and casting our own these days. Maybe I should order a few more molds.....I can hide the cost by calling them Christmas Presents.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Many saw it coming for a while, hence the hoarding and lack of availability.
Some of the gun sites I'm on have many folks that do with ammo what folks here do with canning and food storing.
We will still be able to get ammo, but the prices you saw/see during the shortage will be the new normal.

Matt


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

what will this mean for batteries? , 99% of cars have a lead battery.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> what will this mean for batteries? , 99% of cars have a lead battery.


Same as with ammunition. Imported lead from nations with less strict smelting or change in alloy composition.

As of last year around 40 states already prohibit lead bird shot to reduce lead poisoning of deep feeding birds ingesting residual lead shot and that started way back in the 1970s/1980s.

When gun owners voiced concern about not having lead shot for older guns designed for lube coated lead alloy, manufacturers developed steel alloy safe for use in older shotguns and designed for newer models.

Odds are manufacturers will incorporate similar techniques with the larger slugs. Watch reports on U.S. firearm and ammunition manufacturers to see what options they choose.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

I wonder how many more jobs were lost to this maneuver:catfight:....


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

but china's lead particulate ends up here any way , so so much for the not in my back yard , angle

a friends mother works for Minnesota department of health or something like that she was telling me that Minnesota figures they can only control 10% of the pollution in MN the rest is riding in on the jet stream

the answer remains the same do it right at home and keep the jobs and have control of the environment , or farm it out to the lowest bidder half way around the world let the shipping costs eat up 95% of the savings and have no control over the mess they make and get into the upper atmosphere to land on us any way and have no jobs and no control over the damage being done.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Over the decades slugs have been cast from lead/tin, clad carbon steel, clad tungsten, etc.

The main constant from my discussions with some gunsmiths is the cleaner/lubrication components mixed into the manufacturing of the alloy to prevent rifling clog.

One of the range masters I know remarked when this smelting plant issue first surfaced in industry discussions a couple months back suggested that with current polymer technology future ballistic projectiles could probably manufactured from a polymer/non-lead alloy providing an adequate weight and penetrability slug within acceptable EPA standards and within reasonable costs of the current lead/tin alloy.

When he shared his thoughts regarding lead restrictions and the fact there were still many U.S. based firearm and ammunition manufacturers planning on many years of production aimed towards the private sector, I thought of the high tensile strength carbon nanotube growth technology NASA is pursuing as a possibility for developing a space elevator delivery system.

What if ammunition manufacturers were to adopt carbon nanotube technology as a potential polymer based alloy?

What other alloy potentials could be pursued?

Yes lead plates have been the basis of batteries for decades however now NASA researchers are evaluating viruses harvested from sea water to grow plates for batteries.

If they can do that , certainly alternative alloys for firearm ammunition could be found that are both cost effective to produce and more environmentally friendly without making existing firearms totally obsolete as we wait for our star trek particle beam phasers.

Maybe a steel dust/graphite/ polymer bond mix to provide tensile strength , weight and lubrication? :shrug:


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> what will this mean for batteries? , 99% of cars have a lead battery.


Of course we all know about wheel weights.

But how about in old golf clubs (woods) Some of them have a lead weight in the wood.
On the back side of piano keys there is often a lead weight on each key. It is what makes the key return to the up position..

Just a few sources I've found lead over the years of scrapping metals.. Of course I don't sell my lead.. I've got about 400 lbs of lead pipe on my truck right now.. I'll unload it tonight....:heh:


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

This has been coming for quite a few years.. not an unknown thing... There had been talks of the plant shutting down and moving 15 years ago... I see now Doe Run says plans to open a new plant is no longer in order.. 

This isn't a ammo deal... This is an over reaching EPA tree hugger deal..


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

I'd like to see them develop and deploy an alternative before they phase lead out.

However I really do think it's best to get the lead out.

I have a shooting range on the bank right by my hayfield and god knows how contaminated the backdrop behind the target is.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

My range is about 30 feet from my well casing, and about 20 feet above it... I'm thinking it's gonna get moved next spring.. I doubt lead would leech that far and deep.. but you just never know..


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## CrazyMooseFarm (Feb 20, 2006)

Melting spoons worked well for my dad.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

my bullets were someones water pipe for the last 100 years and their water tested just fine.

metalic lead needs an acid, ground to a fine particulate or temp over 900 degrees to become toxic unless ingested where you provide your own acid


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Any metal regardless of smelting or foundry technique is pretty toxic if propelled by an adequate powder charge. 

Sorry Pete. I couldn't resist after thinking of the story of the coroner who after examining a corpse and finding 18 gunshot wounds listed the death as natural cause while saying after getting that many holes drilled into you, it was perfectly natural to die


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

We might be all right. rolleyes:



> Lead is one of the worldâs most recycled metals: according to the US Geological Survey, about 1.14 million tons of recovered lead were produced in the United States last year, or about 80 percent of domestic consumption, with almost all of it coming from consumer products.


http://leadinvestingnews.com/1715-battery-recycling-johnson-controls-enersys-exide-lead-acid.html


Maybe this is a non-issue, business decision, anyway, since Doe Run only supplies 8% of new lead (the rest is imported already) so it would not cost justify, to spend the money for pollution controls.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/29/lead-doerun-smelter-idUSL2E8HT8ND20120629

doe run is big on recycling.



> BRRD receives and processes approximately 460 million pounds of lead-bearing materials annually, including approximately 13.5 million recycled lead-acid batteries each year.


http://www.doerun.com/WhatWeDo/LeadRecycling.aspx


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

ninny said:


> More backdoor gun control. Prices likely to skyrocket...
> 
> .


 
Uh, no on both counts. It has nothing to do with gun control, and the price of lead on world metals markets has more to do with ammo prices than a small time smelter that contributed little if any real production to ammunition. The link has a release from Sierra bullets describing their situation. The money quote from the link is this,



> The last lead smelter closing in December did not have enough capacity to supply even 10% of the battery industry much less the ammunition industry. The lead being used in ammunition today hasn&#8217;t been coming from the United States for years already


 
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...er-closes-will-this-affect-bullet-production/

Never let the facts cloud a good conspiracy theory though.

BTW, the tree hugger responsible for the EPA regs was George Bush Jr.

Carry on.

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