An evaluation of the effectiveness of a best management practices (BMP) plan implemented at an outdoor rifle range.

• Main Author: Gersh, Robert Lyle
• Other Authors: Erten-Unal, Mujde
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/8331

CIVINS === Lead contamination has been reported to be a problem at numerous military and civilian outdoor small arms ranges. Several best management practices (BMPs) have been suggested to reduce the leachability of the lead found in the soil. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a particular BMP plan that was implemented during the Fall of 1996 at the Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Little Creek, located in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia. NAB Little Creek's BMP implementation project included: (1) recovering bullets and bullet fragments from the soil for recycling, (2) tilling amendments (lime, phosphorus fertilizer, and leaf mulch) into the soil, and (3) planting vegetation (winter rye-grass) in the disturbed areas. Groundwater monitoring well samples drawn before and after the BMP implementation project were statistically analyzed using non-parametric tests to determine if the implemented BMP plan had any effect (positive, negative, or no effect) on the dissolved lead concentrations found in the groundwater. The findings confirm that after implementation of the BMP plan, the dissolved lead concentrations in the groundwater first went up in April 1997 then down in July 1997. A similar up-down trend in dissolved lead concentrations occurred in the groundwater samples drawn from the outdoor pistol range, even though no BMP project was performed there. Given the inconclusive nature of the findings, additional data collection and study is warranted to further evaluate the effectiveness of the small arms range BMP plan