ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- Toxics Targeting, Inc. in Ithaca made an announcement Tuesday saying they believe Ithaca Falls is still contaminated with lead from the former Ithaca Gun site.
     
     They're saying the gun site, which sat above the falls, is contaminating the falls after numerous cleanup attempts.

     "The site has not been cleaned up," said Toxics Targeting President, Walter Hang. "The US Environmental Protection agency documented lead thirty times the allowable level. You can see that there are shotgun shells raining down from the upper area. There's lead all over the island."
     
     Hang says that the contamination could be very dangerous to people visiting the falls.

     "So when these people and their pets and their little babies are sitting around, they might sit in an area that's got a lot little bit of lead, they might sit on top of shotgun shells," said Hang. "It's literally, if you walk around you can find this contamination. You can literally see the pellets."
     
     According to Hang, the lead has already made its way into the water.
     
     So Hang is calling for a source removal, which is a removal of all the contaminates in one fell swoop.

     "This site remains polluted after seventeen years," said Hang. "That's how come we need a source removal action to just get rid of all this pollution so that kids will be protected as they're walking through areas that almost certainly are lead contaminated."

     Now Hang believes the DEC and EPA need to work together to clean the area once and for all.