National Guard armories halt public events over lead issue

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The National Guard has stopped all public events at nine Oregon armories, including Bend’s, and in toxic armories across the country, in a step to prevent lead exposure.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (https://goo.gl/Tvf2hx ) the order comes a week after their newspaper’s investigation found that lead from indoor firing ranges had contaminated hundreds of buildings.

An Oregon Guard spokesman told the newspaper that the order, issued Dec. 6, was received by the Oregon Guard Friday.

The order sets imminent deadlines, pledges federal money for cleanup and launches an effort to collect details about contaminated buildings nationwide.

Previous cleanup efforts were sidetracked partly because the Guard required states to assume most of the cost.

The order comes almost 20 years after the Guard was warned that its indoor firing ranges were unnecessarily exposing soldiers and others to dangerous lead dust.

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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com