STURGEON BAY -- Carl Scholz worries about thousands of toxic lead bullets sinking to the bottom of the Great Lakes, an ecosystem that supports millions of creatures.

Chuck Weier worries about terrorism, someday exploding onto the shores of his beloved Lake Michigan.

Scholz, of the Northeast Audubon Society, and Weier, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Great Lakes Sport Fishing Clubs are at two ends of the Coast Guard live-fire exercise issue.

"We're concerned about the lead," Scholz said Wednesday at a public hearing at a Sturgeon Bay conference center.

"They never mentioned the effect on plankton. Larval fish eat plankton. Even though they said its 10 parts per billion, nonetheless, lead is toxic."

But Weier said many of the 4,000 members of the sport fishing federation favor live fire exercises, because "we don't live in the same world we lived in 10 years ago, before 9-11."

The U.S. Coast Guard announced in August that it wanted to create 34 massive firing ranges for a weapon that can shoot 10 lead bullets a second. It's already conducting live fire exercises with the last one in September near Superior.

The agency says it must train its Coast Guardsmen to handle the new, more powerful M240-B machine guns to be ready for terrorism. However, critics say three tons of lead from spent bullets plopped into the Great Lakes each year will pollute drinking water.

Fourteen of the live fire zones would be on Lake Michigan, including one about 10 miles east of downtown Milwaukee. Zones would also be located near Kenosha, Manitowoc and Sturgeon Bay. All of the proposed zones are at least five miles from shore.

The plan, which was released last summer in the relatively obscure Federal Register, was quickly placed on hold after sharp criticism from politicians, environmentalists and boaters. The agency scheduled several public meetings in states that border the Great Lakes. It was Wisconsin's turn Wednesday.

Wednesday's session drew about 50 people including anglers, boaters, environmentalists and others who live and play on Lake Michigan.

Thomas Dogan, of the Lake Michigan Yachting Association, pointed out that the Great Lakes represent 90% of America's fresh water and added that lead-based paint has been illegal for years and anglers are barred form dropping lead sinkers in lakes.

Comments in Sturgeon Bay Wednesday hit the same themes as those in public hearings held throughout the Great Lakes region, said Robert K. Lanier, Coast Guard assistant public affairs officer. The Wisconsin hearing was the last of nine public meetings scheduled by the Coast Guard.

Written comments about live-fire exercises on the Great Lakes will be accepted by the Coast Guard through Monday.