last US lead smelter to close

[rbuzz]

Just when I thought that the ammo shortage was showing some signs of getting better another problem is coming. This coming December marks the closing date of the Doe Run operation in Herculaneum Missouri, the last lead smelting operation in the United States. This means from then on there will be no US source for lead used in ammunition and batteries.
This plant has been in operation for over 100 years, but is closing because of the more stringent EPA regulations that the Obama administration is pushing. It would have cost Doe Run approximately $100 Million to install newer emissions equipment and the Doe Run company has decided that it was just too expensive.
This means that with no US source for lead for ammunition, China will be the primary source for lead. With ammunition already scarce and more expensive, this plant closing will only make things worse. That coupled with increasing demands for lead world wide, could create more problems for ammo suppliers.
So if you think that the ammo shortage is over, it may be too soon to start celebrating.

[blujax01]

Sierra says no worries...

Sierra Responds: How Will the Closure of the Lead Smelting Plant Affect Sierra Bullets? | Sierra Bullets

[Arik]

This has been floating around gun sites for a few weeks now. This place is not an ammunition supplier, just a source of lead. 90% of US lead is recycled anyway. And if this is so horrible and true what would car companies use? Where will you get a replacement car battery? Where will hospitals get their lead vests for xrays?

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[rbuzz]

I sincerely hope that this situation does not lead to problems, but any time that you eliminate a domestic source for anything, it puts you in a case where you are dependent on a foreign source for a product. And while a lot of the lead is obtained from recycled sources, the original source of that lead will now have to be increasingly from foreign sources. Hopefully that will not put the US at the mercy of foreign suppliers as it has sometimes has with other products.

[-db-]

No big deal, plenty of lead coming in from China. Just check your paint, kid's toys, milk, etc.

http://www.wnd.com/2007/06/41959/

[25elk]

The upside to this is that the Chinese use ethylene glycol in the production of lead which should help to curtail it's use in the dog food products shipped to the U.S.

[Stephanie B]

Originally Posted by rbuzz

This plant has been in operation for over 100 years, but is closing because of the more stringent EPA regulations that the Obama administration is pushing.

You do realize, don't you, that the new EPA regulations were adopted in 2008?

[blujax01]

Originally Posted by Stephanie B

You do realize, don't you, that the new EPA regulations were adopted in 2008?

Yep. On Wednesday, November 12, 2008.

8 days after You-Know-Who was elected the first time.

[-db-]

Originally Posted by blujax01

Yep. On Wednesday, November 12, 2008.

8 days after You-Know-Who was elected the first time.

He may have been elected 8 days prior but wasn't POTUS on Wednesday, November 12, 2008.

Now, don't mistake me for an Obama fan, I'm simply and merely interested in the facts.

[bigmoneylewis]

Keep in mind, the UN small arms treaty recenty signed by Kerry, will prohibit foreign made ammo (and ammo ingredients ) from being imported into the U.S . Those crafty bas&%#s in D.C. have this
"backdoor ammo ban" locked in pretty good .
I hope I am wrong about this , but I feel strongly that the ability to walk in to a store and buy ammo , of any kind, at any price , will soon be a thing of the past . These globalist *******.s don't want a nation of millions to be armed . They don't want the American people to be a well equipt or well regulated militia , but we ARE .
You can't take that away without infingement on the second Amendment. I personally will not tollerate ANY infringement on my
second amendment .
"I got a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive , and a country boy can survive"
This country does not belong to D.C politicians . "This land is your land, this land is my land"
Those politicians work for us . We entrusted them with the privledge
of voting on things on our behalf .
If they overstep their boundaries , we must remind them that this country is a Republic (in a Republic , the gov. must respect /fear the people ) THAT'S how our founding fathers meant for this government to work . America was never meant to be overpowered by a huge government that fails to answer to the citizens .
Any legislation that takes us in the wrong direction is null and void .
Quote me on that .

The Alabama Patriot

[Guitarmageddon]

Originally Posted by rbuzz

I sincerely hope that this situation does not lead to problems, but any time that you eliminate a domestic source for anything, it puts you in a case where you are dependent on a foreign source for a product. And while a lot of the lead is obtained from recycled sources, the original source of that lead will now have to be increasingly from foreign sources. Hopefully that will not put the US at the mercy of foreign suppliers as it has sometimes has with other products.

Witty.....?

I say yes

[Smokin' Iron]

I hope I live long enough to see a choke collar put on the EPA and yanked hard. It would be grand to see their budget cut by 25% for starters.

The Enviro-Nazis are probably the most power hungry and corrupt department in our government. Well.....Next to the White House of course.

[gtmtnbiker98]

Originally Posted by bigmoneylewis

Keep in mind, the UN small arms treaty recenty signed by Kerry, will prohibit foreign made ammo (and ammo ingredients ) from being imported into the U.S . Those crafty bas&%#s in D.C. have this
"backdoor ammo ban" locked in pretty good .
I hope I am wrong about this , but I feel strongly that the ability to walk in to a store and buy ammo , of any kind, at any price , will soon be a thing of the past . These globalist *******.s don't want a nation of millions to be armed . They don't want the American people to be a well equipt or well regulated militia , but we ARE .
You can't take that away without infingement on the second Amendment. I personally will not tollerate ANY infringement on my
second amendment .
"I got a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive , and a country boy can survive"
This country does not belong to D.C politicians . "This land is your land, this land is my land"
Those politicians work for us . We entrusted them with the privledge
of voting on things on our behalf .
If they overstep their boundaries , we must remind them that this country is a Republic (in a Republic , the gov. must respect /fear the people ) THAT'S how our founding fathers meant for this government to work . America was never meant to be overpowered by a huge government that fails to answer to the citizens .
Any legislation that takes us in the wrong direction is null and void .
Quote me on that .

The Alabama Patriot

A signed treaty is useless until ratified. It hasn't been ratified and is not law. We are not bound by the UN Arms Trade Treaty.

[Shootist1954]

OPTIONS:

Buy all you can, now.

Reloading with lead only:

Fishing weights can be melted down. And there has to be a good bit of those around our garages, etc.

If you don't need them, get the lead out of old, unwanted shotgun shells.

THEN WHAT?
What is a good optional material for bullets/projectiles?

[gm272gs]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Iron

I hope I live long enough to see a choke collar put on the EPA and yanked hard. It would be grand to see their budget cut by 25% for starters.

The Enviro-Nazis are probably the most power hungry and corrupt department in our government. Well.....Next to the White House of course.

You know, back in the 1850's we were headlong into our "Industrial Revolution", and busy puking all kinds of poisons into our atmosphere, water, and land. It went on for a century, until we started discovering that what we were doing was going to kill us, our natural resources, and in turn, the planet. I remember as a kid in the late 1960's, parts of Lake Erie (The 10th largest fresh water lake on the planet) actually catching fire. Something had to be done, and the EPA has done a lot of good.

[FPrice]

This I think is the bigger problem. Increasingly difficult government regulations (however "well meant") seem to be closing down our abilities to be self-sufficient.

Being at the mercy of potential "non-friends" as a source of materials or products is not a good situation, especially in today's world. In may be necessary in some cases where we just don't possess the capability to provide/make something but doing this to ourselves is downright stupid.

Originally Posted by rbuzz

I sincerely hope that this situation does not lead to problems, but any time that you eliminate a domestic source for anything, it puts you in a case where you are dependent on a foreign source for a product. And while a lot of the lead is obtained from recycled sources, the original source of that lead will now have to be increasingly from foreign sources. Hopefully that will not put the US at the mercy of foreign suppliers as it has sometimes has with other products.

[-db-]

Originally Posted by gm272gs

You know, back in the 1850's we were headlong into our "Industrial Revolution", and busy puking all kinds of poisons into our atmosphere, water, and land. It went on for a century, until we started discovering that what we were doing was going to kill us, our natural resources, and in turn, the planet. I remember as a kid in the late 1960's, parts of Lake Erie (The 10th largest fresh water lake on the planet) actually catching fire. Something had to be done, and the EPA has done a lot of good.

Erie was in bad shape for awhile but it never caught fire. You're likely thinking of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.

[ArchAngelCD]

The EPA should be abolished along with the Department of Energy and probably a dozen or more agencies too!

[Arik]

Originally Posted by ArchAngelCD

The EPA should be abolished along with the Department of Energy and probably a dozen or more agencies too!

I get what you're saying and why but I disagree. I would bet my life that if it weren't for the EPA we would be drinking glowing water and being told it was good for us. I don't trust any corporation. Time and again they prove that they value money over people. ....time and sgain. A corporation bottom line is MONEY. A good example would be Hinkley Ca, or Enron. Or companies that told their workers that breathing esbestos (sp) was ok instead of spending money on masks ...etc...etc..

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[gm272gs]

Originally Posted by -db-

Erie was in bad shape for awhile but it never caught fire. You're likely thinking of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.

Yes. I stand corrected!
The Cuyahoga River empties into Lake Erie, and caught fire more than once, apparently. This (among other things) led to the passing of the Clean Water Act amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

[ladyT]

Doe Run supplied only 8% of the US lead demand. The other 92% came from other sources like Canada. Those trying to instill fear into gun owners over this are not friends to those of us that own guns. They are being dishonest and are trying to use us. Friends like this we do not need.

As far as any impact on ammo there will be none.

[ladyT]

Originally Posted by ArchAngelCD

The EPA should be abolished along with the Department of Energy and probably a dozen or more agencies too!

Really? Guess you forgot what was happening to our water supply as factories were dumping untreated waste and toxins into our lakes,rivers,streams and the ocean. Air was thick enough to cut with a knife.

If you want to know what life is like without the EPA just look at the pollution in China these days.

[Smitty357]

Sierra Bullets has always squashed this argument for everyone anyways.

Read this article

[Gyrene6891]

Doe Run is also running into trouble with their plant in Peru because of environmental issues...

[moosedog]

We can always get Chinese lead...........it's made of plastic.

[blujax01]

Originally Posted by moosedog

We can always get Chinese lead...........it's made of plastic.

Some of the Eastern European ammo is full of all sorts of trash. When's the last time your lead attracted a magnet?

[Texas40]

OMG where did I put my tin foil hat!
I need to buy more bullets after next week they wont be making any more.
Come on guys really its not going to change a thing in your ability to purchase ammo.