KAILUA — A new study on an old issue has the state surveying residents at Kaimalino Beach about lead in their yards and planning a project to get rid of pockets of pellets turning up on the shore.

The area outside the Marine Corps Base Mokapu gate was a skeet shooting range from about 1934 to at least 1968, and thousands of pounds of lead pellets were shot into the ocean and at beachside targets.

When the area was developed, fill covered all evidence of the skeet range but by the 1990s people began to report finding lead pellets on the rocky shoreline and in the sand there. The state investigated in the mid-1990s and the solution then was to post warning signs and educate the public about the presence of the lead because the risk was low.

But a February Department of Health study indicated a change in the situation, including an increase in the number of pellets in an area that is eroding at Kapoho Point.

It's an area "where a person could conceivably put down a toddler and a toddler could have access to pellets that they could swallow," said Fenix Grange, DOH supervisor of the Site Discovery Assessment & Remediation Section.

But the sandy beach nearby hasn't increased in risk although an occasional pellet is found there, Grange said, adding that tests show that the sand is not contaminated with lead or lead dust.

"The sand itself is not toxic," she said.

Warning signs have been posted at the beach access and in the area considered of greatest risk — the eroding sandy path, she said. But the state also plans to go door-to-door asking people about whether pellets are turning up in their yards, Grange said.

"What we don't know and the question we need to answer is, are there any of those pellets in a place where a child could get to them?" Grange said.

Lead is a toxin that is especially dangerous to children who ingest it. Elevated blood-lead levels are associated with learning disabilities and small body size.

"There is enough lead in a single pellet to be of concern," said Barbara Brooks, DOH toxicologist.

Area residents are aware of the lead problem because of the beach signs and brochures distributed in the past.

Stacey Lauprecht, 21, said she won't go into the water because of bad experiences after moving into the neighborhood 10 years ago.

"Every time that I've gone swimming there I've ended up getting a rash or getting itchy," Lauprecht said.

The lead is a concern to her, but it doesn't seem to affect others, especially fishermen, she said.

"I just use it as a place to tan," she said.

The neighborhood is part of a larger community that sits off the beaten path and abuts Marine Corps Base Hawai'i. And while the base has a gate nearby, its use doesn't affect Kaimalino residents.

Knud Lindgard, a Kailua Neighborhood Board member, said he reported the problem in the 1990s and again recently when he noticed the changes. Not completely happy with the state's action, he called for a seawall to prevent pellets from migrating from the land to the shore.

"The main purpose is to protect the public, especially the kids," Lindgard said.

Few children live in the area, said Dana Steslow, a resident there for 20 years. Steslow said she learned about the skeet range from a brochure but isn't too concerned because she has no small children nor does she use the beach.

"There's a lot of sharp lava," she said. "Not many people walk it. It's not like Kailua Beach."

Of particular concern is an area in front of two homes where pockets of pellets appear intermittently, said Grange, who led a team of investigators in February. The department, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, has decided to remove the pellets from the worst area. But the pellets have been elusive, appearing and disappearing depending on the weather, Grange said.

Once a removal plan is developed the health department will hold a public meeting on the project.