Armed fed raid prompted by safety rules Shooting-sports advocate seeks accountability, given 'heavy-handed' Nevada situation April 16, 2014
Critics of the way federal agencies in Montana handled a recent raid on a company that recycles brass for ammunition are calling for an investigation.
Government officials have declined to respond to allegations that armed officers with weapons drawn locked up USA Brass employees, confiscated their cell phones and otherwise violated their rights.
The incident in Bozeman, Mont., drew little attention from media.
To protect against lead contamination, USA Brass had installed filters and added training. The company had passed a subsequent inspection before officers from the Environmental Protection Agency and FBI arrived, apparently with guns drawn.
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Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is asking Montana Attorney General Tim Fox to look into the issue.
“Tim, given the heavy-handed application of federal force by BLM currently unfolding in Nevada, I believe it is imperative that Montana assert some accountability for the application of federal police, or police-like, force in Montana,” he told Fox.
He explained that although USA Brass “had been subject to some civil enforcement action for workplace safety by OSHA, the company had completely remedied any such problems and had been given a clean bill of health by OSHA.”
So the “raid” apparently was unrelated, Marbut said.
Zitat“had been subject to some civil enforcement action for workplace safety by OSHA, the company had completely remedied any such problems and had been given a clean bill of health by OSHA.”
Really? It seems to me there are some serious things going on in this place.....
ZitatUSA Brass cleans and resells used ammunition casings. Last fall the Gallatin City-County Health Department reported 22 people, all current or former USA Brass employees showed elevated levels of lead in their blood. In September of 2013 the US Department of Labor cited USA Brass with 10 serious violations and proposed more than $45,000 in penalties and fines.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, workers found the company overexposed workers to lead and failed to provide basic safeguards to reduce lead exposure, including breathing protection and protective clothing.