Members of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office practice using new rifles at the Moccasin Bend Firing Range. City and law enforcement officials are searching for a location for a new range because it is located adjacent to the Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District. Before the land can be used for anything else lead in the hill behind the firing range must have the bullets removed.Map
Chattanooga police and Hamilton County deputies have been practicing target shooting at this range for years.
An environmental assessment of the joint Chattanooga-Hamilton County firing range on Moccasin Bend indicates that the nearly 40 years of spent bullets at the site may be causing lead-laden surface water to flow into the Tennessee River.
And local and federal officials say they may need to review a recent decision to keep the guns firing on the Bend.
The assessment, paid for by the National Park Service to estimate the cost of cleaning up the site, shows that about 6,147 tons of surface soil across five areas on the range contain more than 400 mg/kg — the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable lead limit for the site.
No subsurface soil or water is jeopardized by lead, but the report shows lead-contaminated surface water is likely finding its way to the river, either through stormwater drainage ditches or natural routes.
Lead contamination can impair learning and behavioral development in children, and cause nerve and organ damage in adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.