Elbert County residents originally upset about noise from gunfire at a Boy Scout shooting range now say they fear hundreds of thousands of scattered lead pellets fired by the Scouts will poison Kiowa Creek.
The creek runs through the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch and waters cattle, wildlife and the shallow aquifers that provide drinking water to the area.
“If I knew a kid of mine was walking around in all that lead contamination, I wouldn’t let him go to that camp,” said Janna Benkelman, who lives about 3 miles away.
Steve Gerber, director of support services for the Denver Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, said the shooting is contained in a gulch more than one-half mile from the creek.
The Scouts, however, will hire experts to evaluate the lead migration from the range, he said.
“We’re not discounting the neighbors’ concerns at all,” he said.
Lead contamination can disrupt blood-forming cells, nerve cells and brain cells, especially in children, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
But Dr. Peter Proctor, a lead expert certified by the American Board of Toxicology, said lead in metal form, as in shotgun pellets, is stable and benign.
“I don’t think anyone has ever shown this to be a problem,” he said of shooting ranges.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends measures to minimize potential impact of lead shot, including cleaning up pellets from range sites, but it is not regulated as a hazardous waste.
The 3,300-acre Peaceful Valley camp south of the Elbert community annually hosts thousands of Boy Scouts from the metro region.
The lead charge is the latest volley between the camp and its neighbors, after noisy fundraising shooting competitions in May and last weekend drew dozens of non-Scout participants.
A third event is planned for Aug. 4. After neighbors complained, the Elbert County Commission allowed the camp to continue the events this summer, while tests on noise, traffic and environmental impact are conducted.
Before the unanimous vote on the compromise on July 11, Commissioner Suzie Graeff failed to disclose that her husband, Don, sits on the board of directors for the Colorado Sporting Clays Association, which lists the camp as one of its competitive sites.
Graeff said Tuesday she had asked the county attorney before the meeting if she should recuse herself and was told there was no conflict of interest.
“The association does not benefit,” she said of the shoots. “The Scouts do.”
Jenny Flanagan, executive director of the public interest group Colorado Common Cause, said Graeff should have been more forthcoming.
“It seems to us that at a minimum on a hot issue in the community that’s this controversial, disclosure should have been a minimal first, basic step,” she said.
Former Elbert County Commissioner John Dunn, whose ranch abuts the camp, called Graeff’s undisclosed link to the association “jaw-dropping.”
“It was a terrible decision for a number of reasons,” he said, citing the lack of permits and notification of neighbors before the shooting competitions began.
Dunn said he has been one of the camp’s biggest supporters. “We’ve gotten along with these people for more than 40 years,” he said. “And then they do this (larger events) without asking anybody. They just did it.”
For the Scouts, the shooting events net much-needed cash for the 46-year-old ranch. The May event raised about $200,000 for repairs to buildings and equipment, Gerber said.
