LAURINBURG –The National Guard Armory in Laurinburg will be closed indefinitely to the public because of a lead contamination.
Capt. Matt Boyle with the North Carolina National Guard said that no airborne lead had been found at the local facility but that traces of lead were found on surfaces.
The facility is only closed to the public. Members of the National Guard will still work onsite.
The amount of lead found here was less than the EPA standard for contamination. The federal government says surface lead levels above 200 ug/ft2 are unsafe for areas used by adults and at 40 ug/ft2 for areas used by children 6 and younger.
“No one is breathing in lead,” Boyle said.
The contamination is the result of weapons discharged during past training exercises at the facility’s indoor firing range. The National Guard began to decommission indoor ranges in 2011 because indoor training with rifles was not feasible; the last range was closed in December 2016.
The firing ranges will remain onsite but no longer be used, so there is no chance for recontamination after cleanup, according to Boyle.
Cleanup is part of an ongoing process for armories across the country. More than 1,000 armories nationally are undergoing testing following decades of sporadic initiatives to keep lead contamination at bay. Across the country, inspectors have found lead dust at alarming levels in armory gyms, drill halls, conference rooms, hallways, stairwells, kitchens, pantries, offices, bathrooms and a day care center, according to press accounts.
The process will take five years at a cost of $20 million a year nationwide. Funding comes from the Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization Fund.
Boyle does not know when decontamination work will begin in Laurinburg.
The National Guard has been taking random air samples in North Carolina armories since 2003, but tests never came back positive for lead until recently.
No lead-related illnesses have been reported in connection to the local armory.
Boyle said the building was closed to the public due to the remote possibility that small children and the elderly could be affected.
The Laurinburg chapter of the Kiwanis Club was forced to cancel its annual pancake fest last week because of the facility’s closure.
“The National Guard’s standards are more stringent than OSHA regulations,” Boyle said. “We’re going to take every precaution to protect public safety while still training to make sure our force is ready to serve.”
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