Machine-gun noise a concern for Mass. National Cemetery visitors in Bourne

By Jessica Hill

Posted Oct 1, 2020

Residents say they are worried the proposed machine-gun range will disturb the peace at the cemetery.

BOURNE — Diane Richardson, of Osterville, often goes to Massachusetts National Cemetery to visit her husband, who died in February and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

When she read about the expansion of a machine-gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod, she was worried.

“The thought of my sitting there with thoughts of my husband and listening to a war going on behind us is unfathomable,” Richardson said. “It’s personal to me, and it’s personal to many of the families that have loved ones there and have died in the war.”

Richardson, along with other Cape residents, are concerned the proposed machine-gun range will disturb the peace at the cemetery, although military officials assure the public that there will be no impact to the cemetery, which located just over 2 miles away from where the range would be.

The Massachusetts Army National Guard proposed the construction and operation of a multipurpose machine-gun range that would involve clearing 170 acres of forest and disturbing about 199 acres of land on Camp Edwards. More than 5,000 acres would be required to accommodate the operation, where machine guns, 12-gauge shotguns, grenade launchers and pistols would be used.

Nancy Rego Pollis, of Cataumet, whose husband is interred at the cemetery, is also worried about noise pollution.

“Our national cemetery should be a place of meditation and remembrance of times past, of deceased loved ones,” she said. “It’s a place of quiet concentration where you can find yourself after a painful journey of losing a loved one. I think of it as a place of reflection and meditation, and I think it should be respected in the future as it has in the past.”

She said forcing survivors, who come to the cemetery to pay their respects to loved ones, to listen to gunfire is disrespectful.

“It would raise my anxiety levels a little bit if I were there and I could hear all that in the background,” Rego Pollis said. “I would be worried about stray ammunition and toxic smoke from the grenades.”

Her husband, a World War II veteran, lived at Bourne Manor before his death. When she and her husband sat outside, they could clearly hear the rifle range of Monument Beach Sportsman’s Club, which is located less than a mile away.

Les Melnyk, chief of public affairs and outreach for the National Cemetery Administration in Washington, D.C., said in an email that “it is speculative to discuss potential issues at Massachusetts National Cemetery.”

The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s environmental impact report states the gun range will have “less-than-significant adverse impacts” in general.

There is a moderate risk of the Massachusetts Army National Guard receiving noise-related complaints, according to the report.

It states that potential noise in the surrounding communities can vary based on weather conditions. People within those areas may find the activity to be “noticeable and distinct,” the report states, however, peak noise levels that are “very loud or possibly startling” would not extend beyond the Joint Base Cape Cod boundary.

A new noise study will be performed once the machine-gun range is operational to determine whether mitigation measures are necessary, such as the construction of a wall or a berm, according to a certificate of the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs on the National Guard report.

Matt McKay, environmental compliance manager for the Massachusetts Army National Guard, said the surface danger zone, which is where projectiles could land, is about 2.15 miles from the outside edge of the cemetery. He noted, however, that is different from the noise contour in which sound could be heard. The zone in which sound can be heard is roughly 1.2 miles from the cemetery, he said.

Alex McDonough, range operations manager, said the 5,000 acres that are required to accommodate the project will be untouched and is simply a safety standard. The probability that a round will land somewhere in that area is 1 in a million, he said.

“The noise that folks at the cemetery will hear is no different than the noise they already hear,” McDonough said. “There are live ranges firing, as well as soldiers firing with either blanks or simulators that make noise that have never really impacted the national cemetery, from what we’ve heard.”

Matthew Porter, base commander at Camp Edwards, said most ceremonies at Massachusetts National Cemetery have at least a three-man rifle party.

“It is very customary to hear rifle fire at the national cemetery,” Porter said. “It’s more of a norm than anything else.”

“We have a very good working relationship with the national cemetery,” McDonough said, “and (we’re) always there to support the cemetery and those who are using the services of the cemetery.”