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Search Menu Login Reset Password Home Weather Archive Sign Up for Alerts Full Site Close Menu Skeet shooters practice at the Ashland Gun Club in this 2012 photo. In the background is the home of Dr. Edward Kerwin, one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit alleging that lead ammunition from the club is contaminating the environment. Mail Tribune file photo LAWSUIT Judge sides with Ashland Gun Club By Vickie Aldous August 17, 2016 - 12:01 AM A judge has sided with the Ashland Gun Club and the city of Ashland in a lawsuit brought by neighbors claiming lead ammunition has caused environmental damage. In a July 25 report and recommendation, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke said the neighbors did not prove the Endangered Species Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act had been violated. The judge's report and recommendation has been sent to a district judge for a final decision. Tom Dimitre, attorney for the neighbors, filed objections Aug. 11 to the report and recommendations. The city of Ashland and Ashland Gun Club will have a few weeks to file a response to those objections, Ashland City Attorney David Lohman said Tuesday. Lohman said the magistrate judge's recommendation is "very favorable" toward the city and gun club, but it's too early to predict the final outcome of the case. "We need to wait it out," he said. The Ashland Gun Club has been operating on land it leases from the city since the 1960s. Gun club members practice there, as well as law enforcement agencies, the Oregon National Guard and other groups. In 2004, Dr. Edward Kerwin built a 19,045-square-foot mansion on 13 acres on Emigrant Creek Road on a hill overlooking the gun club. Cathy DeForest and her husband, Leon Pyle, built a 5,085-square-foot home along Emigrant Creek Road in 2007, according to Jackson County records. The three neighbors filed their lawsuit in 2011, alleging lead contamination from ammunition, gunfire noise and the risk of bullet strikes beyond the boundaries of the gun club. At least one errant bullet intruded on Kerwin's land, and gun club activities create "extremely loud and shocking noises," the lawsuit said. The gun club has engaged in various efforts to recover and recycle lead ammunition since the late 1970s. It has required users to use steel shot rather than lead shot since 2012, Clarke noted in his recommendation. Clarke said the neighbors' assertions were false that the gun club had collected lead from the property on only two occasions during a 47-year period. Evidence showed lead recovery efforts were sporadic in the 1970s and 1980s, but became increasingly organized in the decades that followed, Clarke said. "Review shows the Gun Club's efforts significantly increased throughout the period from 2008 to 2015," he said in his report. Instead of addressing the substantial evidence of clean-up efforts, the neighbors' attorney tried to exclude the evidence from consideration, Clarke said. Since the gun club reused and recycled lead, it was not disposing of hazardous waste in a dangerous manner, and therefore wasn't violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clarke said. As for the claim of Endangered Species Act violations, Clarke said the neighbors didn't prove lead had contaminated Emigrant Creek, or that coho salmon in the creek were exposed to lead or harmed by the metal. Wild coho salmon in the Southern Oregon and Northern California region are listed as threatened under the ESA. In objections Dimitre filed to Clarke's report and recommendations, Dimitre said the court erred in numerous ways. Dimitre said the lawsuit was filed in 2011 and documents produced by the defendants about lead management efforts after 2011 shouldn't be used to exonerate the gun club and city of Ashland of violations. Dimitre also said the plaintiffs don't have to prove that lead exists in Emigrant Creek or that fish have actually been harmed, only that the fish face "imminent harm." Dimitre did not respond to requests for comment. Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] "> [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous . Popular Today Updated: Cleveland Ridge fire up to 180 acres; level 1 evacuations expected Shooting spree 'Tough firefight' Crews battle to contain fast-growing blaze 'Doc' to all (No Heading) Man arrested for allegedly firing gun at several area businesses Latest Photo Galleries home search Full Site video weather daily archive txt alerts about mobile website limelight deals jobs real estate © Copyright Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications | Full Site