Project Description
Between 1926 and 1986, the Remington Arms Company operated a trap and skeet shooting range at Lordship Point, a peninsula along the Long Island Sound in Stratford, CT. The Remington Arms Gun Club (later known as the Lordship Point Gun Club) was a popular shooting range where shooters fired lead shot at clay pigeons (brightly colored clay targets in the shape of inverted saucers) launched over upland ranges and the open waters of the Sound. Over the course of 60 years, an estimated 48 million clay pigeons and three million pounds of lead shot contaminated soils and sediments in the uplands, salt marshes, and shallow water habitats adjacent to the range. Following an investigation of the lead contamination, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) ordered Remington Arms to close the range by the end of 1986. An extensive cleanup was conducted to separate and remove clay fragments and lead shot from the contaminated sediment and soil. It was completed in 2001.
As a part of a 2004 settlement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the State of Connecticut required the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to obtain a Conservation Restriction (CR) on the former gun range to preserve the 28-acre property in perpetuity, and plant 8.2 acres of native coastal grasses to restore grassland habitat for migratory birds. Over the following years, the Connecticut Audubon Society maintained an office and conducted conservation work on the property. In December 2022, the property was donated to Connecticut Audubon. It was renamed the Stratford Point Preserve and is now open to the public.
Parties Implementing Restoration
Connecticut Audubon Society; Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; Remington Arms Company, LLC
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service