ShareThisFor 40 years on clear mornings, avid shooters have turned out at the Petaluma Trap and Skeet Club for the sport of popping away at clay pigeons hurled into the air.The western Sonoma County range looks idyllic with hawks and golden eagles diving over grazing sheep. But in a year's time, the rural outdoor range is strewn with seven tons of lead, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which owns the land.Health officials worry about even trace amounts of lead in gasoline, paint, plumbing, food and consumer products, which is why conservationists and regulators are warning about letting thousands of tons of lead accumulate at shooting ranges.Despite some cleanups and spotty county inspections, dozens of ranges in California remain under the radar of regulation.Lead litter endangers wildlife and waterways, scientists say. Lead is so toxic that if consumed, it stunts the growth of animals and plants, and causes the loss of biological diversity, according to scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Runoff from ranges can be rich in lead, said Tom Mumley, assistant executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which halted the use of lead shot at shooting ranges near water in the mid-1990s."We think there are solutions that don't require lead shot."Gun clubs, like the Petaluma Trap and Skeet Club, disagree."Lead's not a contaminant. It doesn't run with the water," said Jerry Cossey, club president of the Petaluma club who has been a member for all of its 40 years.Costly cleanups show otherwise.San Francisco Public Utilities Commission water customers paid $25 million to clean up the now-closed Peninsula Gun Club near San Francisco Bay in Menlo Park. At Lake Merced, the city told the Pacific Rod and Gun Club to begin a lead study at the club's expense."There could well be more than 1,000 tons of lead remaining at the lake from skeet shooting over the years," said Tony Winnicker, commission spokesman. "That, of course, is a serious concern."Environmentalists and hunters are still at odds after a state law passed last year banned lead bullets in 14 counties. The law is intended to protect California condors from poisoning because the birds' food, dead birds and mammals, becomes contaminated when the animals consume lead ammunition or are shot with lead.The condor preservation fight highlighted the issue of lead exposure and its effect on the environment, according to a recent report by the American Ornithological Society for Audubon California. Lead shot has also been banned for use at national wildlife refuges and some state parks. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told duck and geese hunters to stop using lead ammunition by 1991 as a way of protecting wetlands and water. "There's no good reason to be putting lead in the environment ... it's clear it's toxic," said Graham Chisholm, Audubon California's conservation director.Betty Burridge, editor of "Sonoma County Breeding Bird Atlas," singled out birds that would "eat off the ground" -- California quails, mourning doves, rock pigeons and wild turkeys. Barn owls, which nest in the area, eat rats and mice that could pick up lead from the ground.Shooters bristle at the idea that their sport is harmful to the environment and resist changing the shot they use. There appear to be 80 gun clubs in California, according to Clay Targets Online. Lead is the cheapest, most popular shot. If the lead peppered on the range west of Petaluma is any indication of what small outdoor ranges accumulate in a year, lead litter statewide could reach 500 tons a year.Skeet aficionados prefer lead shot, saying non-toxic substitutes cost much more. Steel, one alternative, can damage older guns, takes more powder to shoot and is not as effective, they say.Jeff Miller, conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said there are at least 10 approved nontoxic types of shot other than lead and steel and some were designed to approximate the density and weight of lead."As regulations and interest in using non-lead shot increase, the price is going to come down," Miller said. "Lead's been a useful metal. But from what we know... there's no reason to keep using it."E-mail Jane Kay at jkay(at)sfchronicle.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
Sports shooters vs. environmentalists
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