While spending last weekend at a small area lake in the vicinity of Rhinelander, I happened to stumble over a sandy beach strewn with small plastic casement shells. I started picking them up and before long, had a sizeable pile.

Apparently, these visitors with their razor-point tips were from a 4th of July fireworks display from across the lake. With the strong winds of the past few weeks, they had blown up onto the northeast shore. There were hundreds of them (more than the pile shown in the photos).

No one seems to know much about the impact of 1.25-inch long plastic debris of this kind on the lake environment. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources loon expert Mike Meyer said he had no information about how it affects loons, but notes that “this stuff has been getting more and more prolific over the past few years.”

DNR fisheries specialist John Kubisiak said that not much has been reported about the effects of fireworks on fish or other aquatic wildlife. “We’re unaware of any damaging effects of Wisconsin wildlife,” he said, “but there have been studies showing serious impact on coastal birds such as the albatross.”

The UW-Extension Lakes Program in at UW-Stevens Point is aware of the problem. “I don’t know how long fireworks manufacturers have been using plastic shells, but they are not new, said Amy Kowalski, who puts together a statewide newsletter called Lake Tides. “We have had others call with similar concerns, and about fireworks near and in lakes in general.” The calls prompted Lake Tides to publish an article on fireworks and their effects on lakes in Spring 2005.

Writing in Lake Tides, lake specialist Robert Korth of UW-Extension Lakes notes that fireworks around Independence Day are an American tradition and firing them over the water seems to be a “no brainer as far as fire safety is concerned.

"Although the available safety and environmental effect data on fireworks are often incomplete," Korth adds, "issues with fireworks usually fall into the categories of noise, accidents, property damage and pollution.”

Noise

“Complaints of noise are common around lakes in the beginning of July,” Korth writes. “The sounds of fireworks going off at all hours of the day and night can be more than just an annoyance. The blast can terrify pets and wild animals alike, causing them to seek a place to hide or be overcome with physical effects such as trembling.

"The noise from exploding fireworks can top 130 decibels," Korth continues. "According to acoustic health specialists, exposures to 105 dB for one hour can cause hearing damage. The typical lake environment has noise levels from 30 dB to 50 dB.”

Property damage

Fireworks can cause burns, loss of limbs and sometimes death, Korth notes. “On average, annually about 9,000 people are injured severely enough by fireworks to require hospital treatment. Forty-five percent of those injuries occur to children younger than 15 years old. Annually, fireworks cause over 30,000 fires nationwide, resulting in millions of dollars of property damage. Reports of fires caused by fireworks on Wisconsin lakes are most frequent in July.”

Pollution

Korth doesn’t directly address the issue of the little sharp plastic projectiles found on the beach of an Oneida County lake, but notes that some researchers believe heavy metal fallout from exploding fireworks poses a threat to the environment and to humans, but the toxicological studies on the effects of fireworks on the environment are limited, he says, and they vary in results.

The known fact, he writes, is that “the solid reaction products that give us the pretty colors and special effects include a nasty bunch of chemical additives. The unknown factor is the concentrations needed to cause a problem.”

Korth lists the chemicals and their known effects. “Fireworks are often propelled by charges of black powder (which contain carcinogenic sulfur-coal compounds). Ammonium perchlorate, which can cause problems with the human thyroid gland, is another ingredient used in fireworks and is not a good thing to find in our water. Ammonium perchlorate has been found in ground and surface water in California, Nevada, Utah and West Virginia. White phosphorus is another toxic substance used in fireworks. Its residue can persist in aquatic environments and has caused die-offs of fish and waterfowl.”

Other toxic metals used to create a range of colors are strontium for blazing reds; copper compounds for blue; magnesium, titanium and aluminum for brilliant white sparks; sodium chloride to generate orange-yellow fire; boric acid, which burns green; potassium and rubidium compounds produce purples; burning lithium glows red, and the glittering greens are produced by radioactive barium. 

“These ingredients drift on the winds and settle into our water and soils,” Korth says.

Another type of pollution commonly complained about on Wisconsin lakes, Korth says, is the fireworks packaging materials such as cardboard, wood or plastic tubes and structural parts that drift up on shore or settle on the lake bottom.

In other words, enjoying beautiful fireworks comes at a price. “Some of those costs, such as the noise and cardboard waste, are immediate and visible,” Korth says. “Others, such as the carcinogenic chemicals let loose to contribute to the pollution of our soil, water and air, are not visible and often not thought about.”

Given that fireworks are a just about a sacred tradition with Americans, and generate big business in the U.S., thoughts of the environment appear far down on the list of priorities, especially for celebrating July 4th.

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau,” Korth reports, “the value of fireworks imported from China in 2003 was $163.1 million, representing the bulk of fireworks imports to this country. In 2003, the U.S. consumed 220.8 million pounds of fireworks.”

What's the Wisconsin law on fireworks?

Information on the regulation of the sale, possession and use of fireworks in Wisconsin is found in Wisconsin Statute 167.10 Local ordinances may also regulate fireworks and may be stricter than state law, but cannot be less strict.

In essence, the state does not require a permit for the sale, possession and use of sparklers, stationary cones and fountains, toy snakes, smoke bombs, and caps, noisemakers and confetti poppers with less than "Bj" of a grain of explosive mixture. There is no age restriction on sale, possession or use of these devices and the statute does not classify them as fireworks. These are the only kinds of "fireworks," as that word is commonly used, that a person may use or possess without a permit or that may be sold to a person who does not have a permit.

For all other types of fireworks, a valid permit is required for possessing or using them, including, for example, firecrackers, roman candles, bottle rockets and mortars.  A commonly used rule of thumb is that a permit is required if the device explodes or leaves the ground. The sale of restricted fireworks to a person without a valid permit is illegal.

The conditions for a valid permit are that it is issued by a mayor, village president or town chair or a municipal employee or official they have designated. An official may not delegate any part of the permit-issuing responsibility or authority to a vendor.

A permit issued or sold by fireworks vendors are invalid, even if it bears a printed, stamped or pre-signed signature of a local official in which the permittee's information is completed by the vendor or the buyer has not been issued by the official and purports to be issued on behalf of the municipality, and even if the fees are remitted to the municipality—it’s not valid.

A permit issued legally by a mayor, village president or town chair can only authorize possession or use of fireworks within their jurisdiction and does not authorize possession or use of the fireworks in another town. A group that has a valid permit from one municipality may purchase fireworks in another municipality and transport them to the municipality in which the person has a permit.

A permit issued to an individual is not valid, except if issued to a farmer for crop protection. Permits, other than for crop protection, may only be issued to a public authority, a fair association, an amusement park, a park board, a civic organization or a group of individuals. Any non-agricultural permit which names only an individual and not a bona fide group or other entity listed in the statute is invalid.

A permit must specify the kind and quantity of fireworks allowed to be used or possessed with enough detail to accomplish that, and a permit must specify the location and date at which the fireworks may be possessed or used. The statute uses "location" and “date” in the singular.

Non-residents must have a valid Wisconsin permit to purchase fireworks while in Wisconsin. Possession of the fireworks cannot be transferred to an out-of-state buyer within Wisconsin.

The penalties for using fireworks without a valid permit or selling fireworks to a person who does not have a valid permit is subject to a forfeiture of up to $1,000 per violation. Each firework illegally possessed, used or sold may be a separate violation.

A parent or guardian who allows a minor to possess or use fireworks (not including those for which no permits are required) is subject to a forfeiture of up to $1,000 per violation. A city, village or town may obtain an injunction prohibiting a person from violating of Wis. Stat. ?§167.10(8)(a). Violations of such an injunction are criminal misdemeanors, subject to up to 9 months in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Interestingly, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, nearly all fireworks permits relied upon by buyers and users of fireworks in Wisconsin are not valid, and most of these permits fail for more than one reason. (The requirements for a valid permit are contained in Wis. Stat. ?§167.10(3)(a), (c) and (f).)

All the same, the state statutes do not give the Department of Justice direct authority to enforce the fireworks law. Enforcement responsibility and authority rest with local law enforcement and district attorneys, or municipal prosecutors in the case of local ordinance violations.

For more information, click on DOJ guidelines.