MILTON, Del. - AÂ new cleanup effort looks to rid a historic marker from the chemical damage left behind by decades of range bullets in Milton. According to DNREC almost 13 acres of land was once home to the Broadkiln Sportsman's Club and was the sight of a shooting range.
The club is located off of Deep Branch Road, beside the Prime Hook Refuge. In the late 1990's, the shooting range closed but DNREC said 75,000 pounds of lead left over from all those bullets, are still seeping into the ground. Now DNREC wants to clean that up.
Anna Fantoli, who walks her dog on trails in the neighboring Prime Hook Refuge, is worried about the damage being done,
"Our waterways help our health as well so I think cleaning up the lead bullets and the waterways I think will have drastic change in health and overall health in the environment."
DNREC said contaminants like lead will be removed from the site, will have an environmental covenant restricting site use to nonresidential type uses and placing limits on groundwater withdrawal.
Some people are thankful to see a focus on the environment,
"I think it's great that there's interest in cleaning these things up and our future - are all about our planet and our earth here and taking care of it." said John Howard, who lives near the site.
There are a few ways DNREC is considering the pursuit of maintaining the site. The deadline to submit public comments for this project is Jan. 9.
