• Login
• My Profile
• Help

Search

Products Police Products Accident Reconstruction AEDs AFIS Ammunition Antennas Apparel Badges Bags and Cases Ballistic Shields Batons Bicycles Biometrics Body Armor Books and Training Materials CAD Cameras Cargo Storage Collectibles Communications Communications Interoperability Computer Forensics Concealable Armor Consoles Correctional Armor Corrections Products Crime Scene Investigation Crisis Communications Data/Information Sharing Software Dispatch Equipment DNA Forensics Duty Boots Duty Gear Emergency Lighting Emergency Preparedness Emergency Response Emergency Response Software EOD Evidence Management Eyewear False Alarm Management Financial Services Firearm Accessories Firearms Firearms Storage Fitness Flashlights Footwear For Cops, By Cops Forensic Supplies Gas Masks GIS/Mapping Software Gloves Gun Cleaning Gun Racks Handguns Headsets Helmets Holsters In Car Video Investigation Investigation Software Jail Management K9 Police Training K9 Products Knives Laser Traffic Enforcement Less Lethal License Plate Readers Light Bars Medical Supplies Mics Mobile Computers Mobile Data Motorcycle Accessories and Gear Motorcycles Mounts Night Vision Outerwear P25 Radios Partitions and Barriers Patrol Cars Personal Protective Equipment Personal Shields Personal Transportation Vehicles Police Robots Power Distribution Precision Rifle Prisoner Transport Projectiles and Launchers Public Safety Software Public Venue Protection Push Bumper Radar Radio/Wireless Networks Radios Report Writing Software Restraints Riot Gear RMS Satellite Communications Scheduling Search and Rescue Secure Communications Shooting Range Equipment Shotguns Sights and Scopes Simulation Software Sirens Software Specialty Vehicles Sprays and Aerosols Storage Surveillance Tactical Apparel Tactical Armor Tactical Entry Tactical Eyewear Tactical Footwear Tactical Headsets Tactical Medical / TEMS Tactical Products Tactical Video TASER Technology Thermal Imaging Traffic Enforcement Training Training Gear Training Products Training Services Training Simulators Undercover Undergear Uniforms Vehicle Equipment Vehicle Graphics Vehicles Video Analysis Video Surveillance Weapon Lights Wire Tap Systems Wireless Communications Wireless Handsets Wireless Networking WMD Equipment

• PoliceOne Email

Federal Law Enforcement Resources

Body Armor Forum (Secure) Duty Gear Forum (Secure) Federal Hispanic Law Enforcement Officers Association Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Federal Law Enforcement Training Center More Links Submit A Listing

Featured Product Categories

Consoles Surveillance Simulation Software License Plate Readers Headsets View All Categories

Federal Law Enforcement Products

Featured Product:

Defenshield DS-130 Series - Mobile Defensive Fighting Position

Federal Law Enforcement Article

January 17, 2008

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterRSSWhat's This

Lawsuit claims FBI gun range pollutes Lake Michigan

By Susan Kuczka
Tribune reporter

CHICAGO, Ill. — A lawsuit is targeting the FBI's shooting range in North Chicago, seeking to halt the discharge of lead bullets into Lake Michigan over pollution concerns, the executive director of a non-profit environmental group said Wednesday.

"The lawsuit accuses them of damage to natural resources and [causing] a government-created public nuisance," said Steven Pollack, attorney and executive director of Blue Eco Legal Council in Northbrook, which filed the suit.

The U.S. Justice Department, Coast Guard, Navy, Marines and Department of Defense were named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Pollack said the lawsuit seeks a court order barring the FBI from firing the ammunition into Lake Michigan because of possible environmental contamination, especially to North Chicago's water supply. The city's public water intake pipe is within the 2,900 acres of Lake Michigan assigned to the firing range.The lawsuit, Pollack said, also asks the court to order a cleanup of the spent shells at a possible cost of more than $35 million.

Justice Department officials declined to comment Wednesday. Efforts to reach the FBI were unsuccessful.

The military used the firing range as a training facility starting before World War I. At the end of World War II, the range was deeded to the FBI to train agents and local police officers.

The practice, according to the lawsuit, violates federal and state laws set out in the Clean Water Act and other statutes designed to protect the environment and human health.

Pollack said information he received from the Justice Department through the Freedom of Information Act indicated the North Chicago firing range was designed to use 2,900 acres of Lake Michigan for its facility. Officials also estimated 650,000 rounds of ammunition are fired at the range each year by approximately 2,500 law-enforcement agents. The range, near Foss Park, has indoor and outdoor firing stations, Pollack said.

In 2006, Pollack's group helped pressure the Coast Guard to scuttle plans for routine target practice with boat-mounted machine guns in 34 areas across the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard had begun live-fire training exercises earlier in the year after becoming part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Copyright 2008 The Chicago Tribune





Back to previous page