Proposed Cape Cod machine-gun range under fire from residents
By Denise Coffey
Posted Oct 10, 2020
Trees growing on up to 220 acres would be clear-cut for the $9.7 million project. Eight firing lanes would allow soldiers to train on a variety of weapons systems, including M249 automatic weapons and M240B machine guns. Copper bullets would be used.
JOINT BASE CAPE COD — Leaders of the Massachusetts Army National Guard struggled to win the battle for the hearts and minds of Cape Codders Thursday night.
In a presentation about a proposed multipurpose machine-gun range at Camp Edwards, officials failed to convince the attending public that the range would pose no significant impacts to groundwater or wildlife, and that concerns about increased traffic and loud noise were unfounded.
The state Environmental Management Commission and its two advisory bodies, the Community Advisory Council and the Science Advisory Council, sponsored the meeting. The Commission was created by the Massachusetts Legislature to ensure activities at the base don’t adversely affect water quality or wildlife habitat. It has the final say over the project.
Trees growing on up to 220 acres would be clear-cut for the $9.7 million project. Eight firing lanes would allow soldiers to train on a variety of weapons systems, including M249 automatic weapons and M240B machine guns. Copper bullets would be used.
The firing range would be situated over the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve on Camp Edwards, the aquifer is the main source of drinking water for the four towns on the Upper Cape as well as Barnstable and Yarmouth. Because it is so critical, the Environmental Management Commission is tasked with monitoring the compliance of 19 environmental performance standards, including pollution prevention, vegetative management and the protection of wildlife and habitat.
Dr. Michael Ciaranca, deputy director at the Environmental and Readiness Center at Camp Edwards, said a 2014 groundwater investigation found no significant impact to the aquifer from the use of lead or copper projectiles at the base. However, 66 tons of projectiles and 9 million pounds of soil had to be removed from the base’s 16 ranges to comply with state regulations.
The Guard proposes to recover the copper munitions with a variety of methods. When asked about the toxicity of copper to marine and freshwater invertebrates, Ciaranca said any metal will affect aquatic life.
The military has spent $375 million over the past 20 years to clean up explosives and propellants associated with artillery and mortar fire at the base. “But it isn’t the same thing as the Guard is proposing for this range,” Commission Environmental Officer Leonard Pinaud said.
Guard Natural Resources Manager Jake McCumber weighed the importance of training soldiers while balancing conservation efforts. The clear-cut required for the range would be offset by mitigation plans on the base. He called the Atlantic coastal pinelands ecosystem one that was “disturbance-dependent,” that responsible management was healthier for the forest than unchecked growth.
“We are removing some forest,” he said. “We take our conservation responsibility seriously.” The site location is low, densely vegetated, unhealthy and doesn’t support rare species, he said.
The Guard proposes a perpetual management plan, extensive monitoring and 4 acres of mitigation for every acre affected.
Critics of the proposal said such significant deforestation would be harmful for the Upper Cape.
Brewster resident Betsy Smith called the project “unambiguously awful.”
“We are living through a climate crisis,” she said. “We should be planting trees, not cutting them down.”
Barnstable resident Cole Silva opposes the project because of what he called the severe consequences it posed to air quality, wildlife habitat and the sole-source aquifer.
The vetting process met all the regulatory milestones required by the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act, according to Keith Driscoll, MEPA manager for the Guard. More than 900 comments were received in a 30-day period that ended Sept. 8.
But many in attendance said they had never heard about the gun range. If they had, they said, they would have spoken up, too.
McCumber said he has been speaking to area town officials about the range since 2012.
“You started thinking about this in 2012 and I heard about it from a tiny ad in the Cape Cod Times?” Sandra Faiman-Silva said. She called the review process done by the Guard “deplorable,” and said serious environmental, cultural and socio-economic problems hadn’t been investigated fully.
Jim Wolf, a member of the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, said the clearing of 170 acres of land would result in a huge loss of carbon sequestration.
“We believe the environmental assessment is deficient,” he said. “The claim of ‘no significant impact’ is unbelievable. A full environmental impact statement should be prepared.”
Andrew Gottlieb agreed. The executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod said conclusions reached by the Guard were predetermined and self-serving. “This project needs to be reassessed or rejected,” he said.
The Guard has never completed documentation necessary for an Environmental Impact Statement, according to Driscoll. He said that would take an additional two to three years.
If the range is built, it will draw Guard units from Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine as well as some active Army units, according to base commander Col. Matthew Porter. Troops would generally train on weekends and occasional weeklong training exercises in the summer. About 1,200 soldiers are assigned to the weapons systems that would be used.
Mimi McConnell, chairwoman of the Community Advisory Council, called the 3½ hour meeting a disappointing beginning. The Zoom meeting was limited to 100 people. Technical glitches and poor audio quality didn’t help.
“The Environmental Management Commission takes this seriously,” she said. “They are committed to listening to the public. We need to pay close attention and be realistic and fair-minded.”
The date of a future meeting hasn’t been determined.
For more information go to massnationalguard.org/ERC/publications.htm. All comments will be processed and made available for public release.
Sandwich rally planned to protest machine gun range
By Christine Legere
Posted Oct 11, 2020
SANDWICH — The Sierra Club and several other citizens action groups are hosting a rally Monday protesting the planned machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod.
The rally, titled “Cape in the Crosshairs,” will begin at 11 a.m. on the grounds of the Forestdale Elementary School, 151 Route 130, and continue at 11:30 a.m. at the school entrance. Masks and social distancing are mandatory.
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s plan to create the machine gun range has drawn criticism over concerns that it will adversely affect the Upper Cape water supply. Opponents also have spoken out against plans to clear away 170 acres of forest on the base to support the project.
