What’s yall’s opinion on the fall-out from the EPA shutting down the last Smelting plant in the USA?
Will lead still be readily available but imported?
Will the cost go through the roof?
I was at BassPro in Charlotte this weekend and ammo was flying off the shelve again, people were all a buzz about not being able to get bullets in the not so distant future because of the closing of the last Lead Smelter.
218WA Sailfish
The "Penn"sion Plan
There are a lot of questions that will arise as a result of this brilliant decision. Rest assured, our government has thought out this decision thoroughly and I am confident they have all the answers. Never fear, our government is here to help us.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
That’s exactly why it was flying off the shelf. “people were all a buzz about not being able to get bullets in the not so distant future because of the closing of the last Lead Smelter”. People all a buzz without facts. Ammo industry must LOVE the rumor mill. Most ammunition in the United States is made from recycled lead that comes from secondary smelters which recycle lead from car batteries. One can look this up on the internet if you don’t believe me. I would expect any American-made fishing lead you use comes from similar secondary sources. I also bet that a lot of fishing lead is manufactured overseas.
I don’t see the costs increasing too much in the long run, due to the fact that it’s cheaper to manufacture in foreign countries anyway. It’s just ridiculous that the industry is being forced out of the country.
EPA standard operating procedure: Close down industry in US due to environmental concerns. Industry will be still be active in foreign countries with less strict policies, and subsequently demand from those foreign plants will increase. Planet still gets harmed, but worse due to less restriction in developing countries.
It seems to be more advantageous to research more environmentally friendly methods of production to keep the industry domestic.
quote:
It seems to be more advantageous to research more environmentally friendly methods of production to keep the industry domestic.
I’ll kindly ask you to stop making sense.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
I would much rather have the manufacturing of our ammunition in the hands of the Peoples Republic of China. What could possibly go wrong.
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
Considering there are only 2 smelting facitlites in the US - and one is shut down, and only about 10 in the world - and none whatsoever in China… I think we can take our prepper hats off and rest easy.
As said above, most of the worlds lead is from recycling plants.
Just think about all them unbalanced tires we are gonna have, no more wheel weights
I still got about three hundred pounds… Gonna last me a while!
Redfish Baron Extraordinaire
Most of our lead comes from recycling (old car batteries) nowadays, not from original lead smelting. Note that the company that was “shut down” was not shut down at all. The company has several plants (most recycling), except for the 100+ year old lead smelting plant. If someone doesn’t think that a 100 year old lead plant was causing pollution, then you don’t believe that pollution exists. Anyway, the company was given the option to fix the plant, but the company (not the EPA) determined that the cost of bringing the plant up to standards outweighed the cost of keeping the plant running, so the company decided to shut it down. They have stated that it will give them a chance to clean house on underperforming employees, and the better employees will be moving onto different jobs within the company (who is still a profitable lead supplier).
Many of the big bullet manufacturers have already come out and said that they will not feel any pain from the lead smelter and that the buzz on the internet was just that…
The lead smelter has already stated that they don’t supply ANY lead to bullet manufacturers, and that for lead production worldwide, only about 3% of the lead goes towards ammunition.
The bottom line is that there is so much lead floating around, there is little need to keep pulling it out of the ground anyway as long as the recycling option is alive and kicking.
quote:Well, this case has been going on for a few decades now... It's not like it was a knee jerk decision.
Originally posted by DFreedomThere are a lot of questions that will arise as a result of this brilliant decision. Rest assured, our government has thought out this decision thoroughly and I am confident they have all the answers. Never fear, our government is here to help us.
“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
quote:Huh? No industry is moving out of the country. As a matter fact, the COMPANY that owned this plant will still be in business with it's other 20 secondary smelting plants that run on recycled lead. They will continue to grow and be profitable like any other business. No "industry" is chased out of the country. The lead industry is an incredibly mature industry where all of the innovators have moved on to recycling lead from existing sources. This is the case of the last man standing because they wanted the cheap way out...
Originally posted by EdistodanielIt’s just ridiculous that the industry is being forced out of the country.
EPA standard operating procedure: Close down industry in US due to environmental concerns. Industry will be still be active in foreign countries with less strict policies, and subsequently demand from those foreign plants will increase. Planet still gets harmed, but worse due to less restriction in developing countries.
It seems to be more advantageous to research more environmentally friendly methods of production to keep the industry domestic.
Above is pretty much what I concluded.
I didn’t partake in the purchase of “extra ammo”. I did buy 2 more boxes of 22WMR but only because that is the cal. of my wife’s CW and she likes to fire off a couple of rounds periodically to keep herself familiar with her gun.
I’m pretty sure I have enough old lead to make my fishing weights for many years to come.
218WA Sailfish
The "Penn"sion Plan
That being said, ammo is a commodity made up of other commodities… Anyone want to guess what happens to the price of commodities when there is ongoing inflation?
skinneej, Thank You! Always like to see voices of reason on the forum.
40 years ago the majority of lead was used the plumbing industry, there is still a lot of lead under old houses! Check with an old plumber and he probaly has a ton of it