The city is on the hunt for a contractor to begin the process of removing four decades of lead build-up at a law enforcement firing range sitting on a piece of Moccasin Bend that will one day belong to the National Park Service.
A 2014 environmental assessment of the site from the park service showed about 6,147 tons of surface soil across five areas of the range contained more than the federal limit for lead and that tainted water might be flowing into the Tennessee River.
The discovery prompted the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to require that Chattanooga develop a program to prevent or reduce pollutant runoff at the site.
City engineer Bill Payne said the city had two options in regard to the built-up lead: to leave it in place and simply treat the runoff, or to remove the source of the lead.
“After looking at it, it’s something that needs to be done anyway for the long-term use of the property,” Payne said, referencing restrictions that would prevent the National Park Service from accepting lead-polluted land. “So we’re looking for someone who can come in and mine that soil and get the lead out of it.”