Chabot Gun Club closing in a year

Dammit... another range is closing   

http://kron4.com/2016/03/01/video-castro-valley-gun-club-to-close-amid-pollution-concerns/

Dammit... another range is closing   

http://kron4.com/2016/03/01/video-castro-valley-gun-club-to-close-amid-pollution-concerns/

only heard a portion of the report on the news last night, but didn't know which one in the east bay it was.  that sucks!

Bullshit.....you should hear the dorks on nextdoor.com complain about the range......

Damn, That's bad news. I'm sorry to hear it.

 Nobody wins here, loss of tradition for those who use the range not to mention a nuisance and expense to find another place to shoot. Huge expense for clean up. Lead poisoning is no joke,what you going to do?

You will never find a new location, close to any big city, to open a new gun range - NEVER!!! The whole issue with "possible" lead contamination; Lake Chabot has never even been tested . This whole issue started when a home owners decided they didn't like the noise of gun shots, from the next hill over, and decided they wanted it closed. I'll stop now, as it just plain F'n pisses me off!

I'm  not a "gun guy" but I think having places for gun owners to practice and learn is an essential element of gun ownership.  As long as this place has been around; closure sure seems like the wrong solution to the problem.  I'm sure the range was in this location long before many of the homes were built.  This is just like the people who buy homes near an airport and complain about the airplane noise. 

I was hesitant to jump in on this conversation, but I will say this:

No matter what your stance on guns and gun ranges might be, the simple fact is that gun ranges can and often do result in lead contamination. I haven't studied the Chabot range in particular, so I can't comment on how bad the contamination might be (or not be). As it turns out, there's a chance the firm I work for might end up helping with the Chabot lead investigation and subsequent cleanup effort.

All the clowns that complained about the noise did this!!! The bull sh$!t is they new the range was there when they moved i !! Sorry just a lil mad!!

I was hesitant to jump in on this conversation, but I will say this:

No matter what your stance on guns and gun ranges might be, the simple fact is that gun ranges can and often do result in lead contamination. I haven't studied the Chabot range in particular, so I can't comment on how bad the contamination might be (or not be). As it turns out, there's a chance the firm I work for might end up helping with the Chabot lead investigation and subsequent cleanup effort.

What are the odds that a firm investigating the lead "contamination" has negative findings if there's a potential cleanup profit for the firm?

I can save you guys the footwork.  "We found that the sky is falling.....the solution is to give us a contract."


Lead is just a scapegoat here, I believe there's been a bunch of threads in the past about neighbors not liking chabot.  They just finally won.

I was hesitant to jump in on this conversation, but I will say this:

No matter what your stance on guns and gun ranges might be, the simple fact is that gun ranges can and often do result in lead contamination. I haven't studied the Chabot range in particular, so I can't comment on how bad the contamination might be (or not be). As it turns out, there's a chance the firm I work for might end up helping with the Chabot lead investigation and subsequent cleanup effort.

So what are you saying other that stating the obvious?

Okay, the complaints seemed to focus on lead that is somehow making its way into the water system, and ultimately Lake Chabot (one of EBMUD's water sources), so at least at face-value, it's hard to fault them that.

... Buuuutttt, I'm a bit baffled on this:

1)  Did they offer to switch to steel shot?
2)  Richmond has a pistol and rifle range where they shoot into a bulldozed berm.  Would this work at Chabot?

I was hesitant to jump in on this conversation, but I will say this:

No matter what your stance on guns and gun ranges might be, the simple fact is that gun ranges can and often do result in lead contamination. I haven't studied the Chabot range in particular, so I can't comment on how bad the contamination might be (or not be). As it turns out, there's a chance the firm I work for might end up helping with the Chabot lead investigation and subsequent cleanup effort.

So what are you saying other that stating the obvious?

Well, it's not obvious to everyone. That's why I said it. Hell, the fellow who responded before you went as far as to imply that I might toss ethics aside and fabricate data to score a cleanup contract.

So yes, I was stating the obvious because it seemed to be lost on some:

When you fire lead bullets into the dirt, they don't magically disappear. Instead, they tend to build up over the years. They also tend to leach and migrate in surface waters, potentially impacting humans or animals. When outdoor gun ranges eventually shut down shop, the soils get investigated. Inevitably, they find lead at levels that are problematic. (The analytical labs even sift out the bullets BEFORE they test the soil.)

Then comes the second part where you, me, and Uncle Sam pay for the cleanup with our tax dollars. The range owner sure as hell cant afford what often amounts to several million dollars to clean up the site, so you and I end up footing the bill.

This is not an anti-gun rant, this is just the reality of what happens with gun ranges.

I haven't studied the Chabot range in particular, so I can't comment on how bad the contamination might be (or not be).

Yet ...

When you fire lead bullets into the dirt, they don't magically disappear. Instead, they tend to build up over the years. They also tend to leach and migrate in surface waters, potentially impacting humans or animals. When outdoor gun ranges eventually shut down shop, the soils get investigated. Inevitably, they find lead at levels that are problematic. (The analytical labs even sift out the bullets BEFORE they test the soil.)

Then comes the second part where you, me, and Uncle Sam pay for the cleanup with our tax dollars. The range owner sure as hell cant afford what often amounts to several million dollars to clean up the site, so you and I end up footing the bill.

Even the EPA has guidelines for "Best Management of Lead at Outdoor Shooting Ranges".  And if applied, the manual says,

This manual provides owners and operators of outdoor rifle, pistol, trap, skeet and sporting clay ranges with information on lead management at their ranges. This manual serves as a reference guide and presents best management practices (BMPs) available to the shooting range community. The practices have been proven to effectively reduce or eliminate lead contamination and may also be economically beneficial to the range owner/operator.

Now, I don't know what the situation is at Chabot, but neither do you.

-Allen

Okay, the complaints seemed to focus on lead that is somehow making its way into the water system, and ultimately Lake Chabot (one of EBMUD's water sources), so at least at face-value, it's hard to fault them that.

... Buuuutttt, I'm a bit baffled on this:

1)  Did they offer to switch to steel shot?
2)  Richmond has a pistol and rifle range where they shoot into a bulldozed berm.  Would this work at Chabot?

1) The Chabot range is over 50 years old. Switching to steel shot now would do nothing to address the lead that's already in place.

2) It absolutely IS possible to operate a gun range in a manner that manages lead and prevents it from migrating off site. We know this now, but we didn't 50 years ago when many ranges were built.