Potential location for the Joint Base machine gun range showing initially proposed 1,500 firing lanes. Town of Barnstable
BOURNE – Advocates said the proposed machine gun range for joint Base Cape Cod likely won’t be back anytime soon.
Association to Preserve Cape Cod Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb said their public records request unveiled documents of an October meeting between base officials and environmental experts showing lack of consensus on a potential range’s impacts on drinking water.
“Nobody on that panel said there’s enough information here to decide—as the guard had represented—that this project was not a threat to the resource. To me that was the big take-home to many pages of that document.”
Gov. Maura Healey shelved the proposal last year citing a funding deadline and unfinished environmental reviews.
“The Healey-Driscoll Administration is committed to protecting the environment and quality of life of Cape Cod residents and ensuring the Massachusetts National Guard has the resources they need to do their important work. Governor Healey did not approve the signing of the contract for the development of a Multipurpose Machine Gun Range at Joint Base Cape Cod because the funding has not been reauthorized and the project was still undergoing review. Our administration remains committed to working with General Keefe and his team and our Congressional delegation to meet the long-term training needs of the National Guard.”
More from Andrew Gottlieb on the documents, as well as the push for a $500 million allocation for water projects in the state’s upcoming environmental bond bill, can be found here.
About Grady Culhane
