A Senate committee approves a measure making taxpayers, not range owners, responsible for cleaning up lead pollution.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published February 19, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - A Senate committee passed a bill Wednesday that would throw out a state lawsuit against a Pinellas Park gun range and force taxpayers to clean up polluted ranges.
No source of cleanup money exists, but senators said they would look for one.
The Criminal Justice Committee voted for the bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Durell Peaden of Crestview. Democratic Sens. Rod Smith of Alachua and Tony Hill of Jacksonville joined six Republicans, three from West Central Florida, in voting for the bill (SB 1156).
The measure is backed by the National Rifle Association and was filed after the state sued Skyway Trap & Skeet Club, alleging arsenic and lead contamination at a Pinellas Park site next to land owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The state found 26 other gun ranges with signs of contamination out of 400 statewide, but the agency says those ranges are voluntarily cleaning their land.
The Department of Environmental Protection warned senators that a state-financed cleanup could cause more contamination by removing incentives for land owners to manage land properly.
"There is no impetus for a range owner or operator to help manage their facility effectively," the DEP's Mike Sole said. "The state will clean it up whenever they get to it."
NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer told senators the bill is needed to rein in DEP, and that taxpayers would benefit because contaminated sites would be cleaned up. "Florida's environmental laws were written to stop industrial polluters," Hammer said. "DEP has chosen to conclude that shooting a firearm is an unlawful discharge."
Hammer contended that Sawgrass Lake near the Skyway range is merely a retention pond for Interstate 275. "It never was a lake," Hammer said. "It's never had potable water in it."
Bill Bilenky, an attorney for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, disputed that. "It is a lake. It is a retention pond. It is a wildlife refuge. It is all of those things. It is an urban lake," Bilenky said. "There are alligators there. There are eagles and ospreys."
Gov. Jeb Bush said last week that he opposes blanket immunity for gun ranges, and environmentalists continue to argue against the proposal.
"The cost of the cleanup has been moved from the polluter to the state, and the taxpayers," said Susie Caplowe of the Sierra Club.
Republican Sens. Victor Crist of Tampa, Mike Fasano of New Port Richey and Nancy Argenziano of Dunnellon voted for the bill.
The issue has divided Democratic legislators.
Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, called it "unfathomable" that senators would not fully fund a children's health insurance program known as Healthy Kids but would use public funds to let polluters escape liability for contamination.
Rep. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, who joined Gelber at a press conference with environmental leaders, said the NRA's clout explains the bill's swift movement through the Capitol.
"If you're well-connected, you're not responsible for your actions," Joyner said.
The measure's next stop is the Senate Natural Resources Committee. A similar bill awaits a House floor vote.
