Toronto Environmental Alliance

BY ENZO DI MATTEO

The Badge, the Toronto Police Service’s official rag, has a feature this month taking an inside look at the revamped Toronto Police College.

There’s a “tactical village,” to simulate real-life confrontations with the bad guys; a “battle house” for officers to train for “high-risk situations”; and, my favourite, a gun range where vehicles can be driven “to bring another dynamic to training.”

The 6.5 hectare site at Islington and Lake Shore cost a tidy $76 million and is being shared by the Department of National Defence.

It also comes with LEED silver certification, which means it boasts energy efficiencies.

But when we tried to get some answers from corporate communications about how all those lead-laced bullets and casings used at the firing range are being disposed of, all we got was dumdum silence.

“I would hope they are collecting them as scrap metal,” says Katrina Miller of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, “which they could probably even sell. If not, there is a lead contamination issue.”

Most bullets have some lead in them, and the spent casings and slugs may have to be classified as toxic waste, says Miller.

NOW | October 7-14, 2009 | VOL 29 NO 6

As posted: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=171660