Ammunition

   Practice shooting of firearms can contaminate the environment and affect human health due to the lead in the ammunition. Facilities can minimize these impacts by switching to reduced hazard ammunition, redesigning the firing ranges, and by collecting spent ammunition.

   The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), located in Glynco, Georgia, revised its standards for ammunition, equipment, and facilities in order to promote both environmental health and safety and human health and safety. FLETC commissioned ammunition manufacturers to develop a non-toxic, lead free, and reduced hazard cartridge. The manufacturers developed a cartridge, the "green bullet," which maintains the same performance level as lead-based ammunition while removing the harmful side effects. FLETC then arranged $43 million in contracts, which used the Federal government's purchasing power to help to develop the market for the new ammunition. The enormity of these Federal contracts enabled the manufacturers to produce the cartridges in bulk, which made them more affordable and available.

   As a result of the success of the green bullet, FLETC now holds 12 contracts and an ordering capacity in excess of 3 billion rounds for 20 different small arms. This is a great example of the influence of Federal purchasing power over the marketplace.
   Furthermore, FLETC has adopted the use of firearm ranges that feature lead recovery and containment in order to reduce further hazards that accompany the use of toxic products. These ranges use physical barriers (concrete walls, floors, and roofs), lead capturing and containment systems (i.e., built in vacuum systems, holding tanks, purified air systems) and cleaning and disposal programs in order to prevent migration of lead into the environment. These preventive measures have reduced the amount of lead being added to the waste stream since 1997 by 75 percent or more than 35 tons and have increased the development of further technological advances in the nation's law enforcement.
   For more information, contact John Dooher at (202) 233-0260, John.Dooher@dhs.gov.

Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia, installed a green bullet trap at its small arms range. Previously, rounds were fired into a dirt berm, which allowed the lead bullets to contaminate the soil. Now the base uses traps that have low angle steel plates that deflect the bullets into a cylindrical deceleration chamber. These traps are about 150 feet wide, which allows room for 25 firing positions. This system not only traps the bullets but also helps to prevent the dispersion of lead and dust particles through the use of a vacuum collection system that pulls air through the front of the trap to a filter unit. These traps reduce both clean-up efforts and costs through the minimization of soil contamination. Also, the lead that remains in the bullets is recycled, which reduces the occurrence of lead exposure and saves the base $35,000 annually. For more information, contact Linda Larson at (478) 926-1197, ext 137, Linda.larson@robins.af.mil.