ELR Citation: ELR 20201
No(s). WDQ-05-549 (D. Md. Sep 27, 2005)

A court dismisses an environmental group's Clean Water Act (CWA) claim against a shooting range club for depositing lead shot in and about a tributary to the Potomac River, but it held that the group may go forward with its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) claim. In November 2003, nearly 18 months before suit was filed, the club ceased operating the range, and the state environmental agency instructed the club that it could not reopen the range until it was physically reconfigured to ensure that no lead shot could reach areas protected under the CWA. Thus, no reasonable juror could find that the club would discharge lead shot in the future, and the group's CWA claim was dismissed. Unlike the CWA claim, however, the club's cessation of operations does not absolve it of RCRA liability. The movement of previously disposed solid waste may constitute a violation of RCRA. A genuine dispute exists, however, as to whether the lead shot threatens the environment. The court, therefore, denied the group's motion for summary judgment and the club's motion to dismiss on the RCRA claim.