EPA new rules shuts down last lead plant.

[george minze]

Doe Run lead mines the last lead mine in the USA has decided to close the Herculanmaum plant in Missouri. Doe Run had planned to invest 100M in the Herculaneum Plant untill the EPA raised the bar and made operating the plant a loser financially. EPA rules were raised ten fold making operating in the US a loser. Domestic lead ore will have to be shipped to China or other 3rd world countries for processing. Costing jobs in Missouri a conservative state, and making it a necessity to ship ore to other countries that have laxer laws....For shooters this means the price of lead ammo will be much higher domestically...Maybe this is one reason the government has bought so much ammo...It is so nice the government is protecting us from lead posioning. The lead miners are sure glad they are now protected, BUT WILL SOON BE BROKE...Merry Christmas Eastern Missouri....

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

EPA has been out of control for years-- I have lost track of the one man gas stations they have closed down around Virginia.

 

[george minze]

There was a past thread some time ago, concerning a federal agency buying a immence amount of ammo to stock pile for what ever reason. All I'm saying is that God forbid we ever get into a global conflict I sure don't think it is avery good policy to be in a position that we have to depend on China or for that matter, anybody else for ammo. For better or worse the lead belt of Missouri is the largest concentration of lead ore in the world. However lead for any use must be smelted. Now our lead will have to be sent overseas for smelting...Hope we don't ever need large amounts of lead for any global emergency I remember someone on this site commenting on the millions of rounds bought by one of our federal agencies. Wasn't the military!!!!! Darn who else would need 10's of millions rounds of small arms ammo.

 

[Harrison]

Not to worry, our military is busily changing over to green small arms ammo, that is lead free. Almost all of the Army's 5.56 is now lead free. Instead they are using tungsten or some other heavy rare metal, that can only be obtained in bulk from: wait for it, Red China.

 

[charlie sherrill]

I think closing this facility would be a national security problem and the EPA shouldn't be allowed to do it. The EPA should be reigned in by congress. They have become too powerful and can basically make law without oversight. You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until they get through killing the coal industry. Not only will that kill thousands of jobs but your power bill is going to soar. The EPA has an agenda and could care less about the economic damage they are causing. We've got a chance to start correcting some of this crazy stuff in next years mid term elections. Let's pack the polls and show some of these politicians what happens when they don't listen to the people they work for.

 

[Hillbilly77]

I'm pretty damned tired of being "saved from myself".

 

[millisec]

LOL Like I said about the ammo market manipulation running deep right down to raw materials. If all else fails destroy the ammo supply. The president and EPA have far too many powers that they can wield in a destructive manner. The sheer magnitude of shipping ore out of country and shipping it back as a finished product will send lead prices skyrocketing. Then again I have seen the mentality of sitting on our unused reserves of materials while we use up the cheaper foreign reserves (i.e. oil, natural gas, rare earth metals). China is doing a pretty good job of destroying their own environment and health. Smelting all our lead will just help them along.

I also don't doubt that in the name of the environment all lead will be banned from ammo sometime near future. I could live with that as long as there is a viable, cost effective alternative. The "green" military ammo is certainly not cost effective and is costing tax payers a fortune.

 

[Arik]

They are closing the plant that makes new lead. Most lead you see and use is in fact recycled lead. That plant is running strong. Your wheel and fishing weighs, battery terminals, ammo and everything else is made from recycled lead.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[25elk]

It's been coming for a long time. Many moons ago I was a Master Plumber and back in the early 80's the EPA started on the lead in solder business. I got out of that trade in 1987 and was smart enough (?) to stash a few rolls of 50/50 and I'm so glad I did as it is impossible to get now. Unfortunately it was washed away in a flood a few years later.

 

[Stevens]

When I read this stuff I wonder how many times I have crimped lead split shots in my teeth, or bit on a lead cast net sinker to hold it while casting the net out? melted lead for toy soldiers or sinkers and jig heads or as a kid played with broken thermometer mercury rubbing it on pennies in my bare hands to make the pennies shine like dimes. I have never had any symptoms of problems from either of these metals after 65 yrs. How many thousands of people have I met here in the US or around the world on business yet never met one who had lead or mercury poisoning.
Steve W. Please excuse the "rant"

 

[wheelgun28]

When I read this stuff I wonder how many times I have crimped lead split shots in my teeth, or bit on a lead cast net sinker to hold it while casting the net out? melted lead for toy soldiers or sinkers and jig heads or as a kid played with broken thermometer mercury rubbing it on pennies in my bare hands to make the pennies shine like dimes. I have never had any symptoms of problems from either of these metals after 65 yrs. How many thousands of people have I met here in the US or around the world on business yet never met one who had lead or mercury poisoning.
Steve W. Please excuse the "rant"

Your are correct sir!

The problem is that the statists that run things have no reason or moderation. Its always an all or nothing approach. Oh extended exposure to lead is bad lets ban every molecule of it...

I still laugh at the ban lead solder from copper pipes, you have to really wonder just how much lead will actually leach into the water. Never mind all the houses that had lead pipes coming from the water mains...

Just like when children eat old paint chips, its the paints fault. Not the parents that allow paint to chip or peel off the wall, never mind allow children to eat it.

Yet they wonder why so many people are fed up with it all...

 

[ladder13]

As long as we have Chinese toothpaste and toys we'll never run out of lead.

 

[Straightshooter2]

Sierra was asked about this and they stated all their lead used for ammunition is secondary lead (recycled) rather primary (lead from ore). They also said they bought from several different secondary smelters rather than just one to insure a constant supply of lead. While it's a shame some of the bozos in the Great Windbag on the Potomac are putting more people out of work and sending even more money overseas, it's not time to panic yet regarding a lack of lead.

CW

 

[george minze]

You of course are right...However what is the right time to just say...STOP......They call and as far as I iknow the area of what we speak "The Lead Belt".......Recycled lead is great ,but you can bet that source will dry up.....We have become a nation of followers...Any non producing egg head that spent his or her whole life as a educator has become the moral authority for the rest of us....I don't need their help...Thank You....I heard all the **** about Korea from the left and on later occassions on the Nam.....When you are in the service I never once was asked by a superior what is your feelings about the war....It really comes down to your fellow servicemen....I was called up for Cuba no one asked me if I agreed on our policy and to be honest I could have gave a damn about Cuba..I was called to go...Nuff said...I do know that leaving or depending on others for critical supplies is crazy......Recycled or first run......When do we need a bunch of egg-heads to tell us what we need or for that matter what we want...Those aprox. 160 workers that work the Herculaneum plant just want to follow their fathers line of work......They know the risks, they know the need, and they are probably as pro American as you can get...Go to SE Missouri and babble about the good of the rest of the world.....When did the rest of the world give a darn about us.....I think the government has taken on more authority than it can chew....Lead today coal tomorrow. maybe gas next week....How much government do we need.....Just my opinion but forged for the last 75 years....Remember this we the US were the greatest steel producers in the world....Wonder where the steel comes from now????? How and why did we win WW2...we out produced are ememies by 10 fold.....If we lost ships we just produced more, when the enemy lost ships they had to do with what they could repair..I will take the American worker over the rest of the world by spades...Just don't handcuff them into dependence on foreign supplies....

 

[perrazi]

boy, do I have comments for this. enough to get banned forever.

 

[Vegetaman]

So somehow it is more green to mine it, ship it overseas, process it, and ship it back, rather than to mine it here and process it here?

Did somebody let the lead dust go to their head? Or is this the EPA pulling a NIMBY (not in my back yard)?

 

[george minze]

I think if we really knew how much control the government has over our every day lives we would be shocked....I am not talking about laws...I an talking about all the hidden agenda regulations that for some reason have now become so intrusive that we have become almost used, and accepting of them....The new health care law is a good example. How many pages...As one of our esteemed lawmakers said. pass it and then read it....How many of us would buy a used car without driving it first? Yet we willingly accept a law that will affect just about everybody. Now we find it isn't quite what was explained to us......Sheep we ar becoming......SAD

 

[jaykellogg]

Regarding lead in home water pipes, some homes have acid water. The water will dissolve a bit of solder overnight. Also your kitchen faucet is probably made of brass with up to 2% lead added to help the chips break up when the brass is machined. It is good practice to run just a bit of water into the sink before you collect some for drinking or cooking. I have used the plumbing solder with antimony in it and cannot tell the difference. Copper pipes are on their way out anyway.

The EPA has written rules that has made many other businesses unprofitable.

 

[rojodiablo]

They are closing the plant that makes new lead. Most lead you see and use is in fact recycled lead. That plant is running strong. Your wheel and fishing weighs, battery terminals, ammo and everything else is made from recycled lead.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

This; coming from a guy who has a basic understanding of.......


Basic understanding of what is reality.

Every car style lead acid battery is made up of 85% of it's total weight in lead. Just think of how heavy your single car battery is, and then imagine how much actual lead is already in the loop.
Of ALL the lead used in the US, over 75% is recycled lead.
New, pure annealed lead is very limited in it's dedicated uses. Radioactive shielding uses new, pure lead because of the specs called out for in the design process. Can be no steel particles or antimony- radiation will bounce and feed from that.
Certain electrical components require new lead. It is then mixed with stuff like antimony, gold, silver. They use pure lead; again- to ensure the volume of lead is a known quality/ quantity.
Lead is a major byproduct of silver, and mercury mining as well. When silver is smelted, lead gets separated. As this happens, that lead is pure, and it goes into the lead supply system.
There are hundreds. And HUNDREDS of thousands of tons of surplus lead in our system. We are not running out of lead anytime soon.

And, as to grasping at straws as losing lead smelting as the reason for buying up millions of rounds of ammo???
I now know why your dog is so tired after bringing back a stick. Because it was far fetched..........

Thanks Arik for giving proper insight on this.

 

[chief38]

The Gov't is doing anything and everything to make the cost of ammunition higher and more scarce. Since they haven't quite figured out how to null & void the Second Amendment yet, they're working on the ammo part.