lead paint removal for forging

[Neaves]

I know where there are some large sheets of wrought iron plate from an old municipal water tank but they have what I assume is lead based primer (the old red-lead) on one side.  I have removed lead paint on machinery with a needle scaler and proper PPE but that was for repainting, not forging. I know that fumes from burning lead based paints pose a severe health hazard but if there is a good way to go about rendering it safe for hot work I may buy a few tons. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience? I know people with lead poisoning from cutting up bridge steel with a torch and that it's not something to take lightly.

[Timothy Miller]

Send it out to a professional sand blaster.

[ThomasPowers]

BTW, If you get some of it let me know; I have a friend who keeps wanting to buy some of mine as it's works a treat for making blister steel.  (especially if you are in the upper Midwest of the USA)

[Frosty]

I'd ask a professional paint or haz-mat company. Then again paint stripper may work just fine but save the strippins and dispose of it properly.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Neaves]

I may get a sandblasting cabinet and just clean it myself in small batches, be easy to keep control of the waste that way. I seem to be swimming in air compressors these days, anyhow.

[Woody]

Remember that the waste material no matter what process is used will be Hazardous Waste if it contains 5ppm lead or more.  Disposal of the waste in the proper manner will be quite expensive it must be manifested and shipped to an approved disposal site.  First you must have a labratory analysis of the material, then you must register as a generator of Hazardous Waste, depending on the amount of waste you will be a small quantity exempt generator, a small quantity generator, or a large quantity generator.  Also remember that after shipment and disposal at the Hazardous Waste Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility, you still own the waste.  If at some time in the future the Treatment Faclity needs to be cleaned up, you will be liable for part of the cleanup cost.  There is no time limit on this, you own the liability forever.  With the cost of analysis in the neighborhood of $500 or so for a TCLP analysis that will catch heavy metals like lead and the disposal fee plus transportation at that or more, I wouldn't touch the stuff with a 10 foot pair of Tongs.  You can't haul the material to the disposal facility youself, it must be transported by a commercial carrier that is licensed to haul Hazardous Waste.  If you decide to just dump it somewhere, the penalty if you are caught is a fine not to exceed 50 thousand dollars and or 5 years in jail.  Plus you will still be liable for the clean up and disposal of what you dumped including any soil contaminated in the process.  There is no statue of limitations on this, I have cleaned up messes that were 25 years old and the company that made them were responsible for the cleanup costs. 

[Neaves]

Thanks for the warning woody, I promise I won't dump anything the side of the road. The only economical way I've found to dispose of it would be to take it to a residential hazardous waste collection day and then lie about where it came from. That seems like a bad (and dishonest) idea. I've been told theres a local with a lead abatement license, I'll hit him up to see if he has any options for me.