Falmouth officials left in dark on planned machine gun range

By Jessica Hill 

Posted Sep 22, 2020

FALMOUTH — Members of the Falmouth Select Board have sent a letter to the Massachusetts Army National Guard asking that additional public comment be allowed on plans for a machine gun range at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod.

Select Board members said Monday they were disappointed to hear about plans for the proposed range, which would abut the towns of Mashpee, Bourne and Sandwich as well as Falmouth. They also said the range was planned without any input from the board.

The proposal calls for clearing 170 acres of forest and disturbing about 199 acres of land. More than 5,000 acres would be required to accommodate the operation, as it would include the area where projectiles fired on the range would land. Weapons that are expected to be used at the range include different machine guns, 12-gauge shotguns, grenade launchers and pistols.

A 100-page environmental report prepared by the Guard says the project would not have significant environmental impacts.

Town Manager Julian Suso sent a letter concerning the range to Keith Driscoll with the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The letter was dated Aug. 31 and sent on behalf of Select Board Chairwoman Megan English Braga and Vice Chairman Doug Brown.

The letter asks that the Guard extend the public comment period on the report for an additional 30 days to allow more opportunity for public review, discussion and input. It also asks that the Guard hold a formal public presentation on the project.

The Select Board has received numerous emails from residents raising concerns about the clear-cutting on the base and the environmental impacts of the firing range, which would be located within the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve, according to the letter.

“This strategic water supply reserve serves the Upper Cape Towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich and occupies a fundamental location within Cape Cod’s sole source aquifer,” the letter states.

During the Select Board’s Monday meeting, Suso said he invited a representative to join the board that night and give a presentation but said he was told by Matthew Porter of the Massachusetts Army National Guard that nobody would be available at that time. Suso said he was told by Porter that the Guard will be presenting and distributing a “robust information product” that will answer the relevant questions on the project. 

Brown said it was concerning that the planning of the project has been going on for two to three years without the Select Board’s input, even though base leaders come to the board every year to give an update on what is going on at the base.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to find this out by a clip in the newspaper instead of at least a letter to us.” he said.

Brown also expressed concern that the machine gun range will move forward without much public input.

“I find that troubling given that the base had so much already cleared space that is being unused,” Brown said, “and now we’re going to clear another 170 acres of deep forest, which I know it’s a military reserve, but it’s also a pretty important natural resource.”

“To get this far in the process, they clearly knew the last time they came to us that they were planning it,” Jones said. “I’m really quite angry that they would do this to us.”

English Braga said some residents have expressed concerns about water contamination that was caused by operations on the base.

Since then Joint Base Cape Cod has implemented water treatment systems to clean the water. Firefighting foam once was used at a firefighting training area on the base and contaminants known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, seeped into groundwater plumes. Because of fuel spills and other activities that happened in the past at Camp Edwards and Otis Air National Guard Base, parts of the aquifer have been contaminated.

“The water contamination is not gone,” English Braga said. “We still have PFAS. We still have emerging contaminants. ... We are still, as a community and the surrounding communities, dealing with the fallout from that contamination.”

English Braga said the board needs to have a representative from the base come to a board meeting so the public can have an opportunity to ask questions about the project.

Brown suggested the board partner with other organizations like Sierra Club or Conservation Law Foundation and get their input.

“It might come to the point where we might have to intervene with legal action to get a voice in this,” Brown said. “I hate to say that, but it’s a possibility. It’s pretty far along.”

The board decided that Brown would reach out to other organizations and communities about the proposed project.