How 'trigger trash' from target shooting pollutes Nevada — and costs taxpayers big bucks

Reno Gazette-Journal

In heavily used target shooting areas, there are high-levels of lead contamination
That lead contamination can be washed down into populated areas
The BLM is spending $75,000 to clean up an area near Reno that's used for illegal target shooting

The brightly colored assortment of discarded ammunition casings on a hillside on the outskirts of Reno crackled as Kurt Miers waded through the pile.

“All these casings right here, you don’t want the public to come and pick this stuff up,” said Miers, an environmental protection specialist with the Bureau of Land Management.

That’s because the littered casings and surrounding soil are contaminated with lead, which is hazardous to people.

“If you can look around here and see all this trash laying around, that’s left from target practice, we call it trigger trash,” he said. "It's pretty widespread all through Nevada."

'It is putting everybody at risk'

In heavily used target shooting areas such as where Miers visited Friday, the amount of lead in the soil is as much as four times what’s considered the maximum allowable level in residential areas.

“It’s a problem because it is putting everybody at risk,” Miers said of the polluted site near Chimney Road at the north end of Sun Valley, and just uphill from hundreds of homes and a middle school that’s under construction.

Debris left behind by target shooters on the northern outskirts of Reno shown on May 10, 2019. The BLM says shooting sites can show lead contamination at four times the amount of what's considered safe for residential areas.

In addition to the pollution from ammunition and shells, the site is covered in trash, much of it riddled with bullet holes.

The trash, which often includes electronics and appliances, can leave behind more contaminants, especially when it’s used for target practice.

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“Either the shooters bring that stuff out and shoot it or they shoot stuff someone else has brought out here,” said BLM Ranger Scott Fischer, who patrols the area. “That debris they are creating by shooting it just makes the problem worse.”

'It’s very expensive to clean up'

The BLM recently hired a contractor to clean up solid waste assess hazards at the site for $75,000.

The project is expected to take about two weeks. And while it means the casings and debris will be hauled off, the price doesn’t include removing high levels of contamination from the soil.

Kurt Miers of the Bureau of Land Management shows a map of an area near Reno that's polluted by target shooting and illegal dumping.

“It’s very expensive to clean up,” Miers said. “And it comes at the expense of the taxpayers’ dollars.”

Fisher said that, in general, target shooting is legal on public land.

However, he said the area along Chimney Road is considered a congested area by Washoe County, which means shooting is prohibited within 5,000 feet of homes. Although even within 5,000 feet of the nearest neighborhood there was evidence of heavy target shooting.

Fischer added that even when people are shooting legally, they’re still required to pick up casings, targets and any other trash they generate.

And shooting at glass, electronics or appliances is not only dangerous, it’s illegal, he said.

“We don’t want people shooting appliances, TVs, glass bottles,” Fischer said. “It just creates a huge mess that has to be cleaned up.”

Benjamin Spillman covers the outdoors and environment in Northern Nevada, from backcountry skiing in the Sierra to the latest from Lake Tahoe's ecosystem. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here.