Investigation of Mechanical Processes for Removing Lead-Based Paint (LBP) from Wood Siding

Abstract : The U.S. Army is responsible for thousands of World War II-era wooden temporary buildings that must be removed in order to reduce Department of Defense (DoD) real property inventories. Most of those buildings were used long past their intended service lives and were well maintained. They contain large quantities of reusable wood materials with a significant potential resale value. Standard demolition procedures would destroy the value of that material and create new land filling costs. Demolition would also incur considerable ancillary costs related to compliance with environmental regulations on the handling and disposal of debris contaminated with lead-based paint (LBP). In order to promote DoD strategic waste management goals, decrease costs, recover value from past infrastructure investments, and reduce long-term liability, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center worked with other government agencies and private-sector partners to investigate the feasibility of salvaging high-quality wood from obsolete buildings and remanufacturing it into value-added products. Criteria for success included process efficiency, human and environmental safety, and potential marketability of the remanufactured products. This report documents investigations using both conventional and specially designed woodworking equipment to remove LBP from salvaged wood siding while concurrently remilling it into new profiles.