Shooting range lead cleanup to cost $780K

SHOOTING — The U.S. Forest Service is cleaning up soil contaminated by lead at a former shooting range in Washington state.

The clean-up is focused on 2 acres of the 7-acre Index Sportsman Club shooting range in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, officials say

Shotgun pellets from trap shooting contaminated the soil in those 2 acres. Other areas of the range were not contaminated.

The cleanup crew will simply dig up the contaminated soil up and haul it to a disposal area in Seattle or Wenatchee, said Project coordinator Joseph Gibbens. Engineers estimate the project will cost $780,000, he said.

The clean-up could start as soon as this fall and is expected to take less than a month.