Post by rocket on Nov 16, 2013 12:29:07 GMT -6
www.huntingclub.com/american-made-lead-ammo/
The closure of the Doe Run lead smelter could signal drastic changes in the traditional ammunition market across the country
Is This The End Of American-Made Lead Ammo?
November 14, 2013 at 2:42 pm
For nearly 3 years, it’s been known that the county’s last remaining primary lead smelter was scheduled to shutter its Southeastern Missouri operations forever on Dec. 31, 2013. What remains unknown is how the closure of the Doe Run operation in Herculaneum, Missouri, will affect the future production—and ultimately the availability and consumer cost—of traditional, lead-core ammunition.
The Herculaneum smelter, which has existed in the same location since 1892, is the only smelter in the country that produces lead bullion from raw lead ore mined in Missouri’s extensive lead deposits, which gives the smelter its “primary” designation. Several “secondary” smelters, where lead is recycled from products such as lead acid batteries or spent ammunition components, continue operation in other stateside locations.
The lead bars produced in Herculaneum have historically been sold to ammunition manufacturers for use in conventional ammunition components such as projectiles, projectile cores and primers.
Though the Doe Run smelter made significant advancements to reduce lead emissions in the past decade, in 2008 the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued new National Ambient Air Quality Standards that were 10 times as stringent as previous standards.
In addition, lawsuits with claims of adverse health effects linked to lead exposure continued advancing through courtrooms in Jefferson County, St. Louis and St. Louis County. In 2010, a jury ordered former owners of the Doe Run smelter to pay $358 million to 16 plaintiffs who said they suffered health effects from lead poisoning.
It was a double whammy that proved to be the death knell for Doe Run.
Further, on Oct. 11, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB 711, making California the first and only state to prohibit the use of traditional ammunition for all types of hunting, despite strong opposition by a coalition of hunting and sportsmen groups, gun owners, labor organizations and law enforcement officials. And serial environmental litigator, the Center for Biological Diversity, is continuing its efforts to force the EPA to regulate conventional ammunition under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.
The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), reports it’s unclear if Doe Run or another company can open and operate a new primary lead smelter that can adhere to today’s rigid EPA standards.
What is clear, is when the Herculaneum smelter closes its doors next month, the domestic production of conventional ammunition—from raw ore to finished cartridge—will be history.
The closure of the Doe Run lead smelter could signal drastic changes in the traditional ammunition market across the country
Is This The End Of American-Made Lead Ammo?
November 14, 2013 at 2:42 pm
For nearly 3 years, it’s been known that the county’s last remaining primary lead smelter was scheduled to shutter its Southeastern Missouri operations forever on Dec. 31, 2013. What remains unknown is how the closure of the Doe Run operation in Herculaneum, Missouri, will affect the future production—and ultimately the availability and consumer cost—of traditional, lead-core ammunition.
The Herculaneum smelter, which has existed in the same location since 1892, is the only smelter in the country that produces lead bullion from raw lead ore mined in Missouri’s extensive lead deposits, which gives the smelter its “primary” designation. Several “secondary” smelters, where lead is recycled from products such as lead acid batteries or spent ammunition components, continue operation in other stateside locations.
The lead bars produced in Herculaneum have historically been sold to ammunition manufacturers for use in conventional ammunition components such as projectiles, projectile cores and primers.
Though the Doe Run smelter made significant advancements to reduce lead emissions in the past decade, in 2008 the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued new National Ambient Air Quality Standards that were 10 times as stringent as previous standards.
In addition, lawsuits with claims of adverse health effects linked to lead exposure continued advancing through courtrooms in Jefferson County, St. Louis and St. Louis County. In 2010, a jury ordered former owners of the Doe Run smelter to pay $358 million to 16 plaintiffs who said they suffered health effects from lead poisoning.
It was a double whammy that proved to be the death knell for Doe Run.
Further, on Oct. 11, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB 711, making California the first and only state to prohibit the use of traditional ammunition for all types of hunting, despite strong opposition by a coalition of hunting and sportsmen groups, gun owners, labor organizations and law enforcement officials. And serial environmental litigator, the Center for Biological Diversity, is continuing its efforts to force the EPA to regulate conventional ammunition under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.
The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), reports it’s unclear if Doe Run or another company can open and operate a new primary lead smelter that can adhere to today’s rigid EPA standards.
What is clear, is when the Herculaneum smelter closes its doors next month, the domestic production of conventional ammunition—from raw ore to finished cartridge—will be history.
