drclark
06-02-2010, 8:57 AM
Concerned Residents Against Pistol Range Redondo (CRAPRR) -- I think the acronym goes along with the idea....
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_15189521?source=rv
Homeowners take aim at Redondo Beach gun range
A group of residents living near the Redondo Beach police firing range is asking the city for
$5 million in damages for alleged violations of waste disposal laws, including claims that lead bullet fragments strayed into their neighborhood.
The 14 residents, all of whom live in neighboring Torrance, have filed claims against the city of Redondo Beach that point to a state agency's investigation of the 63-year-old Beryl Street shooting range.
The facility more than two years ago caught the eye of the State Department of Toxic Substances Control, which sent scientists to take samples from the area on several occasions following a complaint about possible lead bullet fragments in the vicinity of Towers Elementary School. The campus sits just across Beryl, which is the dividing line between Redondo Beach and Torrance.
The state scientist overseeing the investigation reported that a total of 798 fragments were collected over several months in various places around the range, and in a 42-page report recounts in detail conversations with residents, city and school officials, lawyers and environmental consultants.
The report concludes that the city violated state laws for how it disposed of hazardous waste in storage drums and in soil on the site, and for allegedly failing to provide certain documents.
The information was turned over to the District Attorney's Office, where it has been under review for at least a year.
That's frustrated residents, who say their concerns haven't been addressed, and that questions go unanswered.
"Nothing has happened," said Anthony Patchett, a Glendale lawyer and former deputy district attorney who on Friday filed the claims on the residents' behalf.
If the claims are denied by the city, the citizens could then take their dispute to court.
"I look forward to filing an injunction to shut the place down and clean up the neighborhood," said Patchett, who blames the range for dispersing lead bullet fragments and dust in the community. "I think this is a Superfund site."
The city maintains it already has addressed several concerns about the range, where officers now use a type of lead-free "frangible" ammunition that is said to disintegrate upon impact.
No lead bullets are permitted now, City Attorney Mike Webb said, and police must remove their own ammunition before entering.
The city also organized a cleanup effort at Towers just before the start of the 2008 school year - a plan that was reviewed by the toxics control agency's schools division - and sent workers with sweepers and vacuums onto campus to clean up lingering fragments.
After the state agency began its probe, Redondo Beach hired the law firm of Trutanich Michel - now Michel and Associates - along with an environmental consultant that had worked for the state toxics agency. Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was one of the attorneys working on the case before winning election.
Trutanich has cast doubts upon the state agency's conclusion that the tiny gray particles located on campus were bullet fragments that ricocheted off angled targets and escaped the range - a theory supported by a UCLA engineering professor.
Trutanich previously told the Daily Breeze that attorneys "uncovered some information that there may be someone salting the mine." He questioned why, given how long the range had been used, there weren't "thousands upon thousands of fragments" discovered.
The state agency's report quotes Trutanich as saying "the whole issue is about noise," and that he hired a private investigator to see who was "seeding the neighborhood with bullets."
That response angered Torrance resident Harry Stuver, who heads the group Concerned Residents Against Pistol Range Redondo (CRAPRR).
Stuver, who filed one of the claims, believes the city needs to enclose the range, and that further remediation is needed in the surrounding neighborhood.
"If the DA isn't going to do anything ... what we are doing is seeking civil damages for any damages that have occurred to our health," he said. "We don't know if we've ingested lead."
Patchett, who for 10 years was assistant head deputy of the district attorney's Environmental Crimes Division before starting his own firm, said residents will have to be seen by doctors to determine any possible health effects. He contacted the Torrance residents after reading news articles and doing research about the firing range.
"I looked at this and thought, gee, a police department, you'd think that they'd want to comply with the law," he said. "But sorry to say, it seems like they think they're above the law."
Given the dollar amount of the residents' claims, Webb said the issue will ultimately end up before the Redondo Beach City Council for consideration.
In the meantime, he said the city is trying to "resolve any and all allegations of past misconduct" at the facility, where its outside lawyers met last week with representatives from the District Attorney's Office and state toxics control agency.
kristin.agostoni@dailybreeze.com
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_15189521?source=rv
Homeowners take aim at Redondo Beach gun range
A group of residents living near the Redondo Beach police firing range is asking the city for
$5 million in damages for alleged violations of waste disposal laws, including claims that lead bullet fragments strayed into their neighborhood.
The 14 residents, all of whom live in neighboring Torrance, have filed claims against the city of Redondo Beach that point to a state agency's investigation of the 63-year-old Beryl Street shooting range.
The facility more than two years ago caught the eye of the State Department of Toxic Substances Control, which sent scientists to take samples from the area on several occasions following a complaint about possible lead bullet fragments in the vicinity of Towers Elementary School. The campus sits just across Beryl, which is the dividing line between Redondo Beach and Torrance.
The state scientist overseeing the investigation reported that a total of 798 fragments were collected over several months in various places around the range, and in a 42-page report recounts in detail conversations with residents, city and school officials, lawyers and environmental consultants.
The report concludes that the city violated state laws for how it disposed of hazardous waste in storage drums and in soil on the site, and for allegedly failing to provide certain documents.
The information was turned over to the District Attorney's Office, where it has been under review for at least a year.
That's frustrated residents, who say their concerns haven't been addressed, and that questions go unanswered.
"Nothing has happened," said Anthony Patchett, a Glendale lawyer and former deputy district attorney who on Friday filed the claims on the residents' behalf.
If the claims are denied by the city, the citizens could then take their dispute to court.
"I look forward to filing an injunction to shut the place down and clean up the neighborhood," said Patchett, who blames the range for dispersing lead bullet fragments and dust in the community. "I think this is a Superfund site."
The city maintains it already has addressed several concerns about the range, where officers now use a type of lead-free "frangible" ammunition that is said to disintegrate upon impact.
No lead bullets are permitted now, City Attorney Mike Webb said, and police must remove their own ammunition before entering.
The city also organized a cleanup effort at Towers just before the start of the 2008 school year - a plan that was reviewed by the toxics control agency's schools division - and sent workers with sweepers and vacuums onto campus to clean up lingering fragments.
After the state agency began its probe, Redondo Beach hired the law firm of Trutanich Michel - now Michel and Associates - along with an environmental consultant that had worked for the state toxics agency. Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was one of the attorneys working on the case before winning election.
Trutanich has cast doubts upon the state agency's conclusion that the tiny gray particles located on campus were bullet fragments that ricocheted off angled targets and escaped the range - a theory supported by a UCLA engineering professor.
Trutanich previously told the Daily Breeze that attorneys "uncovered some information that there may be someone salting the mine." He questioned why, given how long the range had been used, there weren't "thousands upon thousands of fragments" discovered.
The state agency's report quotes Trutanich as saying "the whole issue is about noise," and that he hired a private investigator to see who was "seeding the neighborhood with bullets."
That response angered Torrance resident Harry Stuver, who heads the group Concerned Residents Against Pistol Range Redondo (CRAPRR).
Stuver, who filed one of the claims, believes the city needs to enclose the range, and that further remediation is needed in the surrounding neighborhood.
"If the DA isn't going to do anything ... what we are doing is seeking civil damages for any damages that have occurred to our health," he said. "We don't know if we've ingested lead."
Patchett, who for 10 years was assistant head deputy of the district attorney's Environmental Crimes Division before starting his own firm, said residents will have to be seen by doctors to determine any possible health effects. He contacted the Torrance residents after reading news articles and doing research about the firing range.
"I looked at this and thought, gee, a police department, you'd think that they'd want to comply with the law," he said. "But sorry to say, it seems like they think they're above the law."
Given the dollar amount of the residents' claims, Webb said the issue will ultimately end up before the Redondo Beach City Council for consideration.
In the meantime, he said the city is trying to "resolve any and all allegations of past misconduct" at the facility, where its outside lawyers met last week with representatives from the District Attorney's Office and state toxics control agency.
kristin.agostoni@dailybreeze.com