In May of 2022, the San Diego Police Department’s gun range on Federal Boulevard in southeast San Diego was shut down. Seven officers had tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood and filed workers’ compensation claims. One month later, an investigation by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District revealed lead contamination and issued the city a notice of violation.
Nearly two and half years later, a settlement agreement was struck between the city and the APCD. Announced during a city council meeting Tuesday, the city will send $700,000 to the APCD. $200,000 of that will specifically pay for the violations and the rest is earmarked for an environmental “micro-mobility project” in the Mt. Hope area.
The council voted unanimously to approve the settlement payment, with one council member recusing themselves from the vote and another being absent from the meeting. There is no admission of wrongdoing by the city in the agreement, and it says it continues to dispute the claims the APCD made in its notice of violation.
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The city also disputed an environmental modeling study conducted by the APCD, which assessed that nearby communities could have also been exposed to lead dust. The APCD called the potential health risk significant.
NBC 7 Investigates was the first to tell you about the gun range’s closure and reveal the likely cause of the lead contamination. During range renovations the previous year, the decision was made not to install a component that would have helped contain lead dust created when bullets shatter during impacts. The company that manufactures that component says some customers opt not to install those at outdoor ranges. City communication documents reveal a city employee pushed for the device to be installed. It would have added $184,000 to the city's $17.8 million range renovation project.
Since the gun range’s closure, the city now spends $351,000 per year to train its officers at a private range in Poway.
NBC 7 Investigates reached out to the City of San Diego and the San Diego Police Officer’s Association for comment on the settlement. At the time this article was published, the city was still determining if it would provide a statement, while a spokesperson for the SDPOA hadn’t yet had an opportunity to review the settlement.
The APCD says the settlement agreement documents haven't been finalized yet. We'll update this story once they've been released.
