MD: Group plans to sue Gaithersburg gun club, state

[gun-fucious]

Group plans to sue Gaithersburg gun club, state
http://www.gazette.net/200341/weekend/a_section/182266-1.html

by Ellen Shiau
Staff Writer
Oct. 10, 2003

GAITHERSBURG -- An environmental watchdog group plans to file a lawsuit against the state and a Gaithersburg gun club if both parties fail to address concerns of lead pollution in Great Seneca Creek.

The Potomac Riverkeeper, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and protecting the Potomac River, announced Monday its intent to file suit against the National Capital Skeet and Trap Club and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said Ed Merrifield, the Potomac Riverkeeper's executive director.

Under a land agreement with the state, the skeet and trap club has operated for more than 20 years on 100 acres in Seneca Creek State Park.

Tests conducted by the state in July found normal levels of lead in Great Seneca Creek, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

However, the club and DNR have not obtained permits to dispose lead shot in the creek and surrounding areas as required by the federal Clean Water and Resource Conservation and Recovery acts, according to the Potomac Riverkeeper.

The gun club is also operating as an open dump for lead shot and clay targets in a floodplain, which violates the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, according to the group.

In some parts of the creek, lead shot can be scooped out in large handfuls, and fragments from clay targets can be found, Merrifield said. "They have to stop shooting lead into the flood plain, and they have to clean it up," he said.

Merrifield said the Potomac Riverkeeper would file a formal complaint in federal court in early December if the club and state do not correct the violations. Under federal law, a 60- to 90-day notice must be given before filing suit, he said.

The Potomac Riverkeeper, which launched this summer, became involved in the issue after a fisherman noticed lead shot in the creek, Merrifield said.

However, Merrifield said others -- including 11 canoeists pelted by lead shot in 1991 -- have raised similar concerns in the past. "It's not like DNR hasn't known about this for a long, long time," he said.

A phone call to the skeet and trap club was not returned.

Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Heather Lynch said the department would not comment until the legal action had been resolved.

Similar lawsuits in other states, such as New York and Illinois, have been filed under the same federal acts with varying degrees of success, said Lisa Goldman, a staff attorney with the Georgetown University Law Center Institute for Public Representation.

In some instances, courts have ordered landowners to stop polluting and clean waterways, said Goldman, who represents the Potomac Riverkeeper in the suit.

In June, the natural resources department acknowledged that the land agreement between the club and the state had expired.

For the past year, residents living near the club have worked to prevent the club from renewing its agreement because of the club's impact on the quality of life of residents.

Lynch declined to comment on the status of the club's land agreement with the state.

 

[jimpeel]

The Potomac Riverkeeper, which launched this summer, became involved in the issue after a fisherman noticed lead shot in the creek, Merrifield said.

For the past year, residents living near the club have worked to prevent the club from renewing its agreement because of the club's impact on the quality of life of residents.

Now isn't that an interesting cowinkiedink.

 

[Shweboner]

A fisherman noticed 'lead shot' in the water? SOunds like BS to me.

Maybe some drunk fisherman lost his splitshot into the water... but #8, #4, etc shot in the bottom of a creek? I dont buy that for one second.

Anyone else think so?

~Brian

 

[chaim]

The Potomac Riverkeeper, which launched this summer, became involved in the issue after a fisherman noticed lead shot in the creek,

And that is sooooo much worse than the lead used in fishing sinkers because...????

Oh yeah, and also what Shweboner said.

 

[Kharn]

I'm reminded of the trap and skeet field that had test-wells drilled to monitor the lead levels in the aquifers underneath the areas in question. Somebody was smart enough to point a video camera at the wells, and the tapes revealed an individual going up to the wells and pouring lead shot down the holes. You get one guess to figure out what side the individual was later identified as being part of.

Kharn

 

[gun-fucious]

ya know how they are still digging miniballs out of gettysburgh?
lead is pretty stable in the solid form

the newspaper article had a picture of hand full of shot pellets

the credit said "supplied photo"

 

[Harry Tuttle]

Gun club addressing creek pollution
http://www.gazette.net/200403/germantown/news/196775-1.html

by Ellen Shiau
Staff Writer
Jan. 14, 2004

A Gaithersburg gun club under fire for allowing lead shot to enter Great Seneca Creek is working with an environmental watchdog group and the state to address concerns of lead pollution.

"We have thus far converged on a plan of action, which will hopefully be satisfactory to all parties concerned," said Tom Breeden, past president of the National Capital Skeet and Trap Club that operates on 100 acres in Seneca Creek State Park.

In October, the nonprofit Potomac Riverkeeper announced its intent to sue the club and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources if both parties failed to clean up and halt lead shot from entering the creek.

The Potomac Riverkeeper argues that in violation of federal law, the club and state did not have permits to dispose lead shot in the creek and operated the club as an open dump for lead shot and clay targets in a floodplain.

In some parts of the creek, lead shot can be scooped out in handfuls, and fragments from clay targets can be found, according to the Potomac Riverkeeper.

Potomac Riverkeeper, which has not filed a lawsuit, met with club and state officials to discuss concerns in December.

Breeden referred questions to Paul J. Cucuzella, a Maryland assistant attorney general with the natural resources department. Cucuzella did not return a phone call for comment.

However, the club has agreed to construct 50-foot berms to prevent lead shot from entering the creek, according to Ed Merrifield, the Potomac Riverkeeper's executive director.

The club has been closed since Oct. 29 while construction occurs, Merrifield said. Before reopening, the club will test the berms, which will require a few months of construction, he said.

Potomac Riverkeeper's attorney Lisa Goldman said the group is satisfied with the club's plan to prevent lead shot from entering the creek.

However, an agreement over whether to clean up the creek has not been reached yet, said Goldman, a staff attorney with the Georgetown University Law Center Institute for Public Representation.

Potomac Riverkeeper believes the existing lead shot in the creek poses a danger, she said.

"Our purpose here is to clean up the Potomac and its tributaries, and certainly getting the lead out of Greater Seneca is part of it," Merrifield said.

"We're glad to be engaging in a dialogue with them. We hope that will resolve our concerns," Goldman said. "At the same time, we remain prepared to go forward with the claim, but we hope we won't have to do that."

The involved parties, which plan to meet again, have discussed performing a risk assessment to determine if and what kind of clean up may be needed, she said.

"In theory, we would like to pick one person [to perform the risk assessment] so we don't end up contesting two people's findings," Goldman said.

However, the club's Germantown neighbors working to close the club remain dissatisfied. Michael Kowalski of Germantown said he would have liked to see the Potomac Riverkeeper's lawsuit filed in court by now.

Kowalski questioned why the state would allow the operation of a shooting club that does not comply with practices promoted by national shooting groups and other governments.

In addition to environmental and land management concerns, Kowalski said, the club detracts from the quality of life of neighbors and is no longer appropriate for the densely populated area.

Kowalski said the state no longer will meet with him to discuss concerns. "They simply said we will not talk to you relating to the gun club," he said.

A land agreement dating back more than 20 years between the state and club, which predates its surrounding neighborhoods, recently expired. In August, the state signed a temporary right of entry agreement that allows the club to use the land.

 

[BenW]

In some parts of the creek, lead shot can be scooped out in handfuls, and fragments from clay targets can be found, according to the Potomac Riverkeeper.

I might believe you could scoop out a handful of riverbottom and maybe find pellets in it, but "handfuls" of lead??? Come on. Yet another of the many exaggerations in the article. If they truly have a concern for the environment, they should at least have the decency to present facts.

Oh yeah, and I'm also getting sick of reading about NIMBY complaints from people living in houses that are a few years old that are built next to things that have been around 20 or more years that the NIMBY-ites don't like. It was already there. Why did you move next to it?

 

[longeyes]

There's something cruelly ironic about groups that want to "protect the environment" wanting to scuttle the Second Amendment, which is the first and foremost environmental protection act in and of itself.

 

[nico]

I was thinking the exact same thing as you Ben. If you don't want to live near a skeet/trap range, THEN DON'T MOVE IN NEXT TO ONE!:banghead:

 

[greyhound]

Isn't this the same gun club that the locals have been trying to shut down for a while now (even though its been there for 80 years, as more people move in they suddenly don't want it)?

I recall that one gentlemen's argument was that he just moved in and now can't take his Saturday nap because of all those evvvviiiillll guns making noise!

 

[Standing Wolf]

Tests conducted by the state in July found normal levels of lead in Great Seneca Creek, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

<sarcasm> Yup. Looks like a crisis to me. </sarcasm>

 

[Norton]

This is all just a back door ploy by the sheepie citizens of Montgomery County (present company exluded of course ) to shut down the club.

The encroachment of suburban sprawl is claiming lots of gun clubs. The one here in Annapolis has such limited hours that I can't join. New homeowners nearby were complaining of the noise, etc. Most of the hours are in the middle of the day when I have to work so I'll have to look elsewhere......

 

[P95Carry]

Aren't ''Nimby's'' ... a pain!? Even out in the boonies ... same problem ......

''But the smell of manure is so strong'' .......... ''hey dude ... it stank like this for last (enter figure) years''.

''I can't sleep cos of the noise the stears make (whine, moan) ..... '' ... the same noise they always made.

Sheesh ..... this is so ... absurd.

My second club ... nr Johnstown PA .. has had to switch to steel ..... cos the CSA (Cambria and Somerset Authority) ... has declared as much. The club is I admit on the edge of Quemahoning reservoir .... but there is already a gazillion tons of lead in the local area where we shoot ... why change now ... it achieves so little. Minimal enviro' impact.

Aha .. except - effects of .... cost!! Maybe they hope the cost will drive the club into submission and so it'll disappear. Not yet CSA ... we keep it tickin over ...... just a lot less practice available for us who used to load our own.

 

[anapex]

The way PA is P95 I'd be more worried about mine runoff then lead shot in the water. For those who aren't familiar PA has many "orange" streams thanks to mining.

 

[P95Carry]

Anapex ...... true enough .. tho with mining almost a thing of the past .... not what it was. The enviro people tho will ''have a go'' at about anything right now .. even if it screws with sensible and long standing pastimes ......

The times - they are a changin ........

 

[Jeeper]

I hate to say but that will probably be a losing battle. The first club I ever belonged to in Tucson AZ got shut down for similar crap. It was there 50 year and then expensive houses moved in next door. All of a sudden it was a nusiance. It really sucks. Ranges really have to be careful what happens around them thesedays or we will all be screwed. geting longer term leases or instant renewals needs to be the focus.

 

[jrhines]

Been there, done that...
Both my kids and I started shotgunning at National Cap. The club was at one time a very prestigious private shooting club and has hosted the North South shoot for several decades. I believe the NS is the longest running skeet competition in the US.
When my wife and I moved to Montgomery County in 1973, we looked at a house near the club. My wife inquired about all the noise and the realtor assured us that "they have lost their lease and will be gone in 3 months!". Since that time all manner of homes have been built near enough to the club so that the shooting has become a noise problem. When a noise abatement engineer measured the impinging noise he had trouble collecting data over the roar of the gas lawn mowers.
The club has bent over backwards to be good neighbors. We are quiet one weekend a month during the summer. We only open on Tues. & Thorps from 4 PM 'till 9 PM, and weekends from 9 am 'till 4 or 5 PM. We restrict shooting on the close fields except during tournaments.
Many of the members have just given up and gone elsewhere to enjoy their sport. Too bad, it was/is a well maintained and beautifully laid out facility

 

[Harry Tuttle]

theres a town meeting with the county council in Germantown pretty soon

maybe if some gunnies showed up to complain of the NIMBYism by the newbies