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Showing posts with label JOINT BASE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JOINT BASE. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

YOUR TURN: A lame duck’s opportunity to save Cape Cod

 

YOUR TURN: A lame duck’s opportunity to save Cape Cod


Andrew Gottlieb, guest columnist

Published Jan 11, 2022 

Now that Gov. Charlie Baker has decided to not seek re-election, it could make some hard decisions a bit easier. Doing the right thing always comes with a cost, and not having to ask for votes again frees him to do some difficult things as he leaves office.

For Cape Cod and everyone who lives or visits here, the right thing for Baker to do is terminate the National Guard’s deeply flawed plans to build a huge, heavy-caliber machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod.

As long as he’s in office, Baker has the power to block the firing range: The governor is commander of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, with direct authority over what happens on JBCC.

He also has leverage with the Environmental Management Commission — the final state regulatory hurdle JBCC must clear before it can start building the range. The EMC, composed of three state agencies that report to Baker, oversees compliance and enforcement of environmental standards on the land at JBCC where the range would go.

And he has precedent. Then-Gov. Paul Cellucci in 1998 canceled the National Guard’s plans to build five training sites on the northern half of Joint Base Cape Cod, specifically to protect the environment and groundwater there — the exact same issues at stake with the machine gun range today.

Bucking a huge, entrenched military bureaucracy is hard — even when it ignores environmental damage and clear opposition from the businesses, local governments and residents who live here. Baker has hinted at his doubts about the firing range but hasn’t committed.

There are many reasons why he needs to come off the fence. Here are four.

First: The environment and public health. The range would be built in the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve — state-designated specifically to protect the Sagamore lens, the sole-source aquifer for the Upper and Mid-Cape. The reserve was established in 2002 after past military activity seriously polluted the groundwater; mitigating past JBCC groundwater contamination has cost taxpayers more than $1 billion and counting.

The firing range also would clear-cut 170 acres of forest without any replanting and commandeer 5,000 acres as a safety zone. Woodwell (formerly Woods Hole) Climate Research Center estimates losing 170 acres of trees would release 16,895 metric tons in CO2 emissions and eliminate the capacity to remove 313 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year. In the fight against climate change, this is surrender.

Second: JBCC’s fundamental dishonesty in how it maneuvered to build the Cape Cod machine gun range. JBCC’s chief justification for the range was that no nearby alternative exists for training its troops in heavy weapons use; that argument vaporized when the Army announced this summer it will build yet another new machine gun range at Fort Devens in northeastern Massachusetts. JBCC leadership knew about these plans for an alternative range but failed to disclose or account for it.

Third: JBCC’s deceitful efforts to ramrod environmental approval for the firing range with a quick internal review that blocked input from local governments and residents. After repeated legal action, we discovered why: Emails from Gen. Christopher Faux, JBCC executive director, to U.S. Rep. Bill Keating’s staff revealed that Faux admitted his gun range could not survive an independent environmental impact analysis. Even Faux knew the Guard’s fast-track internal review, claiming “no significant impact,” wouldn’t hold up to external scrutiny.

Fourth: Gen. Faux’s outrageous attempts to silence his critics. In an email to the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, Faux tried to get the chamber to support the range by prohibiting his troops from patronizing Cape businesses unless local shop owners toed his line. But the chamber publicly rejected Faux’s threat and called out JBCC for failing to engage with local communities about the project.

With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Baker can rescue JBCC from the PR disaster it has made for itself, prevent the National Guard from wasting $11.5 million on a duplicate machine gun range that it can’t legitimately justify, and protect Cape Cod’s environment, drinking water and residents.

As one of his final acts, it would be a jewel in Gov. Baker’s considerable legacy if he does.

Andrew Gottlieb is executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.


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Saturday, September 4, 2021

Proposed machine-gun range gets another public airing

 

Proposed machine-gun range gets another public airing


Asad Jung Cape Cod Times 
Published Sept 3, 2021 

The proposed multi-purpose machine-gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod continues as a contentious issue. Citing military necessity, some embrace the project, while  others call for further environmental studies or outright suspension of the project. 

The Falmouth Select Board hosted a public forum last Thursday to continue the debate, which included presentations by the Massachusetts Army National Guard, 350 Cape Cod and other environmental activists and public comments. 

Barbara Ahalt, Kat Brennan and Bill Grant attend a June 26 protest in Sandwich against the proposed machine-gun range project at Joint Base Cape Cod.

In a significant development prior to the forum, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced Aug. 14 it will review the proposed machine gun range and the potential risks it may pose to public drinking water.

Base officials say range essential for training, has won key approvals

The presentation by the Massachusetts Army National Guard  focused on the need for the gun range, the regulations the base has had to adhere to through as part of its process, as well as its commitment to environmental conservation.

The National Guard says the $11.5 million machine-gun range is needed for weapons training, regulatory requirements and habitat management. 

Major Alex McDonough said soldiers need to complete core and job-specific training events to meet training requirements and be eligible for promotions. 

Phase 1 of the proposed construction would require the clearing of 108 acres of land —30 existing acres will also be used. 

McDonough said the project received a permit from the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, a certificate from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs — that the project complied with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act — and had a finding of no significant impact as part of the process of meeting the National Environmental Policy Act. A review by National Guard Bureau and the Department of the Army  also led to findings of no significant impact.

Jake McCumber, manager of the natural resource and training lands program for the Massachusetts Army National Guard, spoke about the conservation requirements for the machine-gun range. 

He also spoke about the greenhouse gas analysis done as part of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act process, which found the emissions and carbon release from the clearing of trees would be mitigated by land preservation, forestry management and activities specific to the gun range. 

Col. Matthew Porter  said that small arms ranges do not contaminate groundwater, and that the range is necessary for the Army and National Guard. He said he knows there is a history of contamination on the base, but that the base has been working hard to fix that issue.  

350 Cape Cod: Worries about drinking water, pollution

Rosemary Carey of 350 Cape Cod  said her group is calling for a suspension of the project until an independent Environmental Impact Study is completed. She said the Joint Base is the largest piece of land on the Cape that is undisturbed.  

Carey said  there were things missing from the conversation about the gun range, including the fact the towns of Mashpee, Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable and Yarmouth receive drinking water from a sole-source aquifer called the Sagamore Lens. 

She also said Joint Base Cape Cod was designated a SuperFund site in 1989, which cost taxpayers nearly $1.5 billion. 

She said Cape Cod 350’s top concerns are: water quality, air and soil contamination, climate impacts, habitat protection, noise pollution/health impacts, socio-economic and cultural impacts and lack of necessity. 

Mon Cochran, vice president of the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, said the carbon emissions from the cutting of trees was understated, as were  adverse effects to habitat and noise issues. 

Activist Ella Sampou asked the Falmouth Select Board for two things: to call for an Environmental Impact Statement to be conducted and that the project be suspended, and a letter of opposition sent to Gov. Charlie Baker. 

“Hyper-ventilating" by environmental extremists

Some of the public commenters said they were concerned with the safety of the water supply and environmental impacts of the range, while others were vehemently supportive of the range. 

Adam Lange, of Brewster, said that environmental extremists were “hyper-ventilating,” and that what was being built was a gun range on a military installation and not a nuclear power plant in Cape Cod Bay.  

Another speaker said she supports the gun range so that the military can continue to protect citizens. 

Tom Weaver asked why the military couldn’t just use simulations for training. 

Another woman, who did not give her name, said she felt a range could be built elsewhere, not on top of an aquifer.  

What's next for Falmouth Select Board?

Douglas Brown, chair of the Falmouth Select Board, said that although a lot of the questions he had were adequately answered, he still has more, especially about the EPA aquifer review. 

EPA to review proposed machine-gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod

Brown said the Select Board will be taking public comment over the next couple of weeks, and at their Sept. 13 meeting will either take a vote on recommending the project or decide that they need more time to review. 

“I’m still sitting with the information from both presentations,” said Nancy Taylor, vice chair of the Falmouth Select Board. Taylor also said that she hopes that people who didn't attend the forum watch it. It can be viewed here: fctv.org/v3/vod/joint-base-cape-cod-machine-gun-range-forum-august-26-2021













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