The Indiana National Guard is working to clear lead dust contamination from armories across the state. It’s residue from old indoor firing ranges and other uses of the buildings.
The issue was identified during required periodical industrial health surveys. Indiana National Guard officials are currently performing follow-up testing, analysis and remediation of all armories as necessary. Public access may be limited until they can meet strict federal surface dust level standards.
Civilians can still enter the buildings for official business like getting or updating a military identification card. National Guard officials stress the buildings are safe for workers, although alternate accommodations will be made for pregnant servicemembers, employees and contractors. Additionally, no future rental contracts will be entered into until the buildings are approved for public use.
National Guard officials stress they are erring on the side of caution in the name of public safety. As of right now, armory rentals in LaPorte, Michigan City and Valparaiso have been cancelled until further notice, and no new contracts will be entered into until the facilities are approved for public use.
Other affected armories include: Anderson, Angola, Bedford, Bluffton, Brazil (with limited office space approved for public use as of Nov. 30, 2015), Columbus, Connersville, Elwood, Fort Wayne, Frankfort, Gary – 15th Ave., Greencastle, Greenfield, Hartford City, Huntington, Jasper, Lafayette (approved rental only for Purdue University classroom in areas of the armory not affected), Lebanon, Linton, Kokomo, Logansport, Marion, Martinsville, Monticello, Muncie, New Albany, North Vernon, Peru, Remington, Rensselaer, Richmond, Scottsburg, Seymour, Shelbyville, South Bend, Tyndall, Vincennes, Warsaw, Washington and Winchester.
The Plymouth armory is among a handful that were initially off-limits to the public but that have now been cleared for use by military, families and rentals. Others in that category include: Bloomington, Danville, Elkhart, Evansville and Crawfordsville.
Meanwhile, the following armories remain available to the public for routine usage, including armory rentals: Camp Atterbury, the Gary Readiness Center, Hammond, 38th Infantry Division, Johnson County, Lawrence, Madison, Muscatatuck, Rockville, Salem, Stout Field and the Terre Haute Maple Street location.
