San Francisco Gun Club Gets Contamination Clean-Up, But Will They Re-Sign Lease?
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The Pacific Rod and Gun Club could be taking its last shot in the city of San Francisco. For years, San Francisco officials have wanted to clean up lead contamination from the land beside Lake Merced which it leases to the club.
Following a vote this week by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, cleanup work could begin next spring at an estimated $21 million.
Tyronne Jue, with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, says the property is a mess after 80 years of shooting.
"[We'll] clean up the site from all the lead shots and clay pigeons that were used by the Pacific Rod and Gun Club for many decades," he told KPIX.
Gun enthusiasts we talked to weren't happy.
Rod and Gun Club board member Michael Emery came here a few years ago when his son, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, discovered the sport of skeet shooting. Emery says it turned his son's life around but he fears for the future of the sport in the city by the bay. The nearest comparable shooting facilities are about 40 miles from the Lake Merced site.
"As tolerant as the city of San Francisco is, people are shooting guns here. And for many that's a non starter," Emery said.
It was back in 1994 that the city took samples of the land and water at the shooting range and discovered that it was contaminated by the lead from ammunition. Over the years the price tag for clean-up grew.
The city PUC's water enterprise chief Steve Ritchie said, pending the approval of the mayor and the board of supervisors, the money is finally available to complete the design and do the work.
"What we'll be doing is removing about 46,000 cubic yards of lead and petroleum-contaminated material on the site and then replacing that," Ritchie said.
San Francisco Gun Club Gets Contamination Clean-Up, But Will They Re-sign Lease?
The 80-year-old Rod and Gun Club has a lease that expires in December and whether it will be able to return after the clean-up is open question, according to Ritchie.
"The idea of a new boathouse has been talked about there; play areas that children can use, also converting part of it to wildlife habitat. The possibilities are endless," he said.
At this point, water-rate payers will foot the bill for the clean-up but the PUC hopes to eventually recover some of the cost from the gun club's insurance policy.
To Michael Emery, talk of reopening the club after the restoration is so much bafflegab.
"A 15 or 20 million dollar cleanup of this property was really meant to close this club down and get rid of us -- without really saying we're closing a gun club," Emery says.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE ON PACIFIC ROD & GUN CLUB:
SF Faces $10 Million Toxic Waste Problem At Lake Merced Gun Club
