How many secondary lead smelters are there in the US?

There used to be hundreds of secondary lead smelters in the United States that left behind contaminated soil, surface water, and groundwater. Over time the number of secondary lead smelters has dwindled and now there are only twelve remaining in the United States.

What is secondary lead?

A secondary lead in baseball is when the baserunner takes a few steps or moves towards the next base after the pitcher has begun to make their delivery to home plate. The purpose of taking a secondary lead is to give the baserunner some momentum in case the batter puts the ball into play.

What is a secondary lead smelter?

Rule Summary. The secondary lead smelting industry consists of facilities that recycle lead-bearing scrap material, typically lead acid batteries, into elemental lead or lead alloys.

How do lead smelters work?

The sintering phase involves removing sulfur from the lead ore using a hot air combustion process. Once the sulfur is removed, the lead is sent into a smelter where it is heated at extremely high temperatures in order to isolate the pure lead from other metals and materials in the ore.

Where are lead smelters located?

Herculaneum, Missouri
The lead smelter, located in Herculaneum, Missouri, and owned and operated by the Doe Run Company, has existed in the same location since 1892.

Is there a lead smelter in the United States?

(There are no more primary lead smelters in the United States.) The recycling process works like this: used batteries are broken open, the lead is extracted and then melted in furnaces and purified with chemicals in the refinery. Those blocks go to companies that include battery and ammunition manufacturers.

What is secondary smelting?

Secondary Aluminum Smelting is the process of recycling aluminum scrap into aluminum that can be used and recycled over and over again in a true closed loop process. The increased adoption of recycled aluminum in manufacturing has created significant economic and environmental benefits for both industry and consumers.

Where is lead smelted?

A reducing environment (often provided by carbon monoxide in an air-starved furnace) pulls the final oxygen atoms from the raw metal. Lead is usually smelted in a blast furnace, using the lead sinter produced in the sintering process and coke to provide the heat source.

Are lead smelters safe?

It states that there is no identified safe exposure level of lead. In particular, people living near lead smelters are exposed to higher levels of lead than found in other areas. These industries produce air pollution that contains lead, which contaminates the local dust, soil and rainwater.

How many smelters are in the US?

There are three operating copper smelters in the United States. The United States is a net exporter of copper ore and copper concentrate.