Metacon Gun Club

After four years of litigation, all of the plaintiffs' claims federal and state claims were found to be without merit.

Law Offices of Martha A. Dean - environmental law -
15 Ensign Drive Avon, Connecticut 06001
Tel: 860-676-0033 Cell: 860-798-9332 Fax: 860-676-1112 e-mail: mdean@mdeanlaw.com

PRESS RELEASE 03-20-08

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Shots Fired At Metacon Gun Club Miss the Mark

SIMSBURY - Metacon Gun Club has won the state lawsuit brought against it by the Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society LLC (“SAPS”). On March 13, 2008, the Connecticut Superior Court issued a decision that characterizes the plaintiffs’ evidence against the shooting range as “scant,” and holds that the range opponents failed to prove Metacon’s shooting activities have caused unreasonable pollution. With this most recent ruling, all three of the federal and state lawsuits brought by SAPS against the gun club have now been decided in Metacon’s favor.

Metacon is a not-for-profit private shooting club with 650 members operating in Simsbury since the 1960's. Metacon operates under numerous federal, state and local permits and approvals. Starting in 2001, Metacon was the object of an aggressive negative public relations campaign by certain individual range opponents, who object to noise from the range. The range opponents later organized as SAPS. In 2004, SAPS filed multiple lawsuits against Metacon. The lawsuits included sensational allegations of wrongdoing under federal, state and local law. The legal claims included noise, environmental, public safety, nuisance and zoning claims. In 2007, the state court ruled that Connecticut law provides Metacon immunity against noise complaints. Despite four long years of litigation, SAPS has failed to substantiate any of its claims against Metacon.

Although Metacon has prevailed in each case brought against it, SAPS is not willing to go away. SAPS has appealed the federal rulings, and that appeal is pending before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. While it is not possible to be certain about what motivates the range opponents in their unending battle against Metacon, SAPS’s members’ depositions reveal possible motives. One member acquired over 100 acres in the 1980’s, including buildable lots next to the State police outdoor shooting range, which is adjacent to Metacon’s range. This same individual then constructed his residence in an area of his property located near the outdoor shooting ranges. Documents obtained from the Department of Public Safety under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that this same individual then attempted to purchase the State Police range from the State. Another SAPS member who had grown up in Simsbury and who testified that he was well-aware of the shooting noise in the valley purchased a considerable home on the mountain and then brought the lawsuit just months later. Another SAPS member claimed his more than $1 million dollar home was not a significant investment for him, and so he did not look into the purchase carefully.

The recent March 13, 2008, state court decision is critical to the continued viability of Metacon and other outdoor shooting ranges that operate in accordance with applicable permits and U.S. EPA range guidance and Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection standards. “This ruling provides a path forward for shooting ranges to operate in a manner that protects the environment and allows recreational sportsmen an opportunity to practice shooting sports in a safe and appropriate environment” states Metacon’s attorney Martha Dean.

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For further information, please contact: Dennis Golden, Metacon Gun Club, Inc. at 860-651-4911 or the Law Offices of Martha A. Dean at 860-676-0033.

September 21, 2005

Subject: Two victories for Metacon Gun Club

Dear Bob,

I wanted to let you know that the Metacon Gun Club has now won two significant legal victories as it continues to defend itself against the wide-ranging claims of certain opponents of outdoor shooting who live on Talcott Mountain. First, in July, the federal court ruled that spent ammunition is not a waste until such time as a range is abandoned and for this reason is not subject to regulation under the federal hazardous waste regulations prior to range closure. Just this week, a state court ruled that the range opponents are not entitled to injunctive relief between now and the eventual trial on the merits. (The plaintiff range opponents had sought at various times to stop outdoor shooting, force the club to turn the outdoor range into an indoor range, and force the Club to fully investigate and remediate the site while in operation). So both of these court decisions are good news for the Club -- and for other outdoor ranges throughout the State.

Law Offices of Martha A. Dean
- environmental law -
241 Main Street, Suite 502, Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Tel: 860-278-6009 Fax: 860-727-4107
e-mail: mdean@mdeanlaw.com

Conn. Gun Club Can be Sued for Lead Pollution

By RAE THEODORE, Andrews Publications Correspondent

A group of homeowners who live near a gun club have standing to sue the club for dumping lead and other ammunition-related pollutants into the surrounding area, a Connecticut federal court has ruled .

The court dismissed one of the homeowners' claims under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, concluding that lead shot is not "hazardous waste" at the time it is discharged from a firearm because it is being used for its intended purpose.

The court's ruling permits the homeowners to press their remaining claims under the RCRA and the Clean Water Act.

The Metacon Gun Club Inc. has operated a shooting range in Simsbury, Conn., for 15 years, court filings say. Members and guests are permitted to use large and small firearms, including shotguns, assault rifles and anti-tank guns at the site. The club borders the Farmington River, as well as a golf course, riding stable and Talcott Mountain State Park.

The Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society LLC, composed of six homeowners who live near the site, claims the gun club causes water and soil contamination from chromium, lead, ammunition fragments and other pollutants. It alleges that "thousands of pounds of lead" were deposited into the environment since 1980 and the area shows a lead presence well above that allowed by state environmental laws.

Simsbury-Avon and its individual members sued Metacon for violations of the RCRA and the CWA. Specifically, it maintains that Metacon violated the RCRA by open dumping lead and lead debris. It further alleges that Metacon, an owner and operator of a waste facility, has engaged in hazardous waste disposal without obtaining a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency or the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

In addition, Simsbury-Avon claims that Metacon violated the CWA by discharging lead bullets and debris into the Farmington River and its wetlands without an EPA or DEP permit. The homeowners' group has requested declarative and injunctive relief as well as civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day for each RCRA and CWA violation.

Metacon moved to dismiss the claims, arguing that the group lacks standing to sue. Metacon contends that when the suit was filed May 13, 2004, the Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society did not legally exist. Further, the defendant maintains that adding individual plaintiffs does not cure the original defect.

Judge Janet B. Arterton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut disagreed. Although the group was officially incorporated five days after the complaint was filed, Simsbury-Avon and its individual members have standing to sue, she found. The judge noted that the group was a de facto corporation May 11, 2004, when its articles of incorporation were first submitted.

The judge dismissed one of the group's RCRA claims, which asserted that Metacon disposed of hazardous waste without a permit. In so ruling, Judge Arterton relied on a January 2001 EPA publication in which the agency concluded that lead shot is not hazardous waste subject to the RCRA at the time it is discharged from a firearm because it is being used for its intended purpose.

Judge Arterton found the EPA's exclusion of lead shot and bullets from the definition of "solid waste" in the RCRA reasonable.

"At the time a target shooter fires a bullet, the shooter is not intending to 'abandon' the bullet but rather to use it to hit a target. He or she is putting the lead bullet to its intended use," she said.

http://news.findlaw.com/andrews/pl/gun/20050711/20050711simsbury.html

Make Peace With Gun Club
September 8, 2004 editorial - Hartford Courant

SIMSBURY -- Residents who live in the vicinity of the Metacon Gun Club in Simsbury are running out of rationales for closing it down and should accept the opinions of experts about the range's safety and compliance with the law.

The neighbors, who have joined together in a group called the Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society LLC, are primarily upset over gunfire noise coming from the club. Unfortunately for them, the club, which sits on 150 acres at the foot of Talcott Ridge, is protected from noise complaints by state statute and complies with all zoning regulations.

When their noise grievances fell on deaf ears, the neighbors began raising safety questions. Town officials obliged them by commissioning a study that recommended the gun club build a higher safety barrier, a suggestion that was rejected by club owners.

Town officials then hired a second safety expert who had been sought after by both the club and the neighbors. But last week, when the results of the second study were not to their satisfaction, the neighbors complained that the town had an undefined hidden agenda in employing the specialist that they themselves had wanted.

The Florida-based expert, Clark Vargas, urged that the club erect several walls and buffers to appease resident concerns about stray bullets. No incidents of stray bullets have ever been reported in Metacon's more than 30-year history. However, the firepower of the weapons used may have increased to levels that were not anticipated when the range opened.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the safety concerns are only a ploy to pester the club by homeowners who should have been aware of the nearby range when they elected to move nearby.

Simsbury's only agenda appears to be to settle the dispute. The preservation society should be more willing to cooperate with those efforts.

Gun Club Report Stirs Talk Of Bias
September 3, 2004 By KATIE MELONE, Courant Staff Writer

SIMSBURY -- In an effort to put to rest the question of whether the Metacon Gun Club poses a safety threat, the town this spring hired a Florida-based consulting outfit to undertake a thorough analysis.

The report, released this week, recommends the club erect several walls and buffers around the perimeter of the shooting range to address the concerns of residents who fear stray bullets might strike people on a nearby golf course or hiking trails. No such incidents have been reported.

The report is complete with maps, schematics and technical analyses - but is also peppered with the opinions of the expert, Clark Vargas.

Vargas, a gun range expert and National Rifle Association member, does little to hide his partiality, raising concerns among some about the $2,780 report. A selectman has questioned its cost and validity. One resident who opposes the club say it is the latest example of the town's hidden agenda.

"All along I wanted mediation," said Selectman John K. Hampton, who has pushed to hire an independent third party to settle lawsuits that residents have filed against the town and the club. "My concern now is with the fact that the report is written by someone who's not neutral."

In the report, Vargas says: "I have told all parties concerned that my interest is biased and my absolute loyalty is to the sport of shooting. I firmly believe in the protection of existing shooting ranges.

"On the converse side of the issue, I believe in gun control!" Vargas writes in another section of the report. "I believe in controlling a gun so well that I can and always will strive to shoot sub minute of angle groups out to 600 yards," he wrote, referring to his accuracy.

Vargas also comments in the report on groups around the country who organize and sue to close down gun clubs. He says they typically complain that shooting ranges are too noisy, and if their complaints are not heard, will then complain that ranges pose safety and environmental threats until they get a response.

"The group leaders and motivators, who are usually also phobic about firearms anyway, are immutable and will still persist and insist there is a problem, when in reality, there is none."

When asked whether the comments in his report reveal a bias, Vargas said: "Why is it a bias? It's bias to the game. I'm not neutral. My loyalty is to firearms and hitting the center of the bull's-eyes every time. That is my avocation."

Vargas has been deeply involved in the world of shooting. He was the former president of the Florida Sport Shooting Association, a state arm of the National Rifle Association. He was also president of the Gateway Rifle and Pistol Club, a shooting club in Jacksonville, Fla.

Vargas was a member of the Olympic development team until health problems prevented him from competing.

In addition to his interest in shooting, Vargas has been involved in the development of ranges. Vargas has been the president of his civil and engineering firm, C. Vargas and Associates Ltd., for more than 20 years and has designed more than 30 ranges across the country. In 1999, he won an NRA achievement award for gun range development.

Ron Tedeschi, a neighbor who opposes the gun club, says a group of residents at one time considered hiring Vargas, and said that he agrees with some of Vargas' safety commendations.

But he takes issue with the use of taxpayer funds to pay for a report by someone who is open about his bias.

"I think there's a hidden agenda," he said of the town. "They've ignored dozens of complaints. I can't figure out why the town of Simsbury does not listen to the citizens when they point out irrefutable facts."

First Selectman Tom Vincent would not comment directly on the charge that the town had an agenda in hiring Vargas, but said he was under the impression that the neighbors and gun club agreed that Vargas was qualified to make a safety analysis.

"Hopefully they take the conclusions and recommendations and can work it out and come to a working relationship and some of these things in the report can get done," Vincent said.

Martha Dean, a lawyer for the gun club, said the club has already instituted all of Vargas' safety recommendations, and that Vargas' company, the third entity to assess the safety of the club, has issued the most stringent safety recommendations thus far.

"Mr. Vargas is a leading national shooting range safety expert," Dean said. "It's not surprising that he's knowledgeable and familiar with all aspects of shooting and ranges. Mr. Vargas' report makes clear that all three parties wanted to hire him here."

T.J. Morelli-Wolfe, the residents' attorney, said he, too, considered hiring Vargas at one point for a safety study on the club, but said he was not consulted by the town or the gun club attorneys when Vargas was chosen.

Morelli-Wolfe agreed Vargas' report did have some weight, despite his admitted bias. "I've yet to find a design and safety expert who doesn't like guns and doesn't advocate the use of guns," he said.
http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/fv/hc-simgun0903.artsep03,1,5212018.story