Bubble Wrap Maker Wants Popping to Stop

January 3, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Northern New Jersey manufacturer of the Bubble Wrap packaging product says it is now dealing with a noise other than the popping of its bubbles - gunfire.

The Elmwood Park-based Sealed Air Corp. is complaining to local authorities that the gunfire from a nearby police firing range is “disruptive and unsettling” – particularly in certain work areas and meeting rooms, according to a Bergen Record news report.

In a letter to the mayor and borough council, Sealed Air demanded the officials adjust officers’ firearms training schedules to off hours and to install more substantial sound insulation at the police firing range.

Police Chief Don Ingrasselino says he is not sympathetic to the company; it should have anticipated the noise issue before it built its office complex near a shooting range. “Police officers have trained at that location for over 55 years without incurring any noise complaints until now,” Ingrasselino wrote, according to the news report.

Besides, Ingrasselino fired back in his response, fixing the problem is easier said than done since:

  • The department must follow state mandates that require officers to pass several qualification tests a year, proving their proficiency in shooting handguns, rifles and shotguns.
  • If officers were forced to shoot on weekends, the borough would incur thousands of dollars of overtime costs.
  • Building an indoor shooting range at the current site would cost nearly $1 million, and relocating the training program to Bergen County’s facility would cost the borough $250,000 annually.

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