Passive Reactive Berm (PRBerm) to Provide Low Maintenance Lead Containment at Active Small Arms Firing Ranges
Abstract
The Department of Defense (DoD) operates more than 3,000 small arms firing ranges (SAFR s). Live-fire training exercises are necessary to maintain mission readiness for our nations war fighters. Compliance with existing state and federal environmental regulations is an important factor in training range availability. Traditional small-arms rounds consist of copper-jacketed lead-alloy projectiles. Training exercises result in the deposition of lead alloys in berm soils as particles ranging in size from microscopic dust to whole projectiles. Metals present in SAFR soils can migrate off-site into sensitive environmental receptors (e.g., wetlands, surface-water bodies, groundwater supplies) through surface-water transport (runoff) or by vertical migration (leaching) of metals into groundwater. The resulting environmental contamination can result in state or federal regulatory action, which may ultimately impose constraints on critical training activities at SAFRs (Figure 1). The use of earthen backstops (berms) composed of native soil can present environmental and regulatory challenges for installations that contain SAFR s, depending on the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and the proximity of the berm to sensitive environmental receptors. All of the lead entering a berm on a firing range initially is present as metallic lead. As the metallic lead ages within the SAFR berm it undergoes corrosion processes that can result in the release of dissolved lead cations. Depending on the environment within the berm, the fate of dissolved lead can range from transport to groundwater as soluble lead, transport to surface water as soluble lead, sorption onto electronegative particle surfaces (e.g., clays, organic matter, iron or manganese oxide), precipitation of lead salts (e.g., carbonates, sulfates, sulfides, and phosphates).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA607787
Entities
People
- Catherine Nestler
- Chris Griggs
- David Mackie
- Gregory O'connor
- Michelle Wynter
- Steve Larson
- William Andy Martin
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center