BARNSTABLE – Barnstable Assistant Town Manager Mark Ells gave an update on the West Barnstable Shooting Range in his presentation to Council members Thursday night.
The town is still in discussions with state environmental officials about swapping 16 acres of land, but the extent of the lead contamination in the shooting range area went to 27 acres, causing concerns.
The Cape Cod Commission released their report recently on lead contamination in the shooting range area, which found that there was little transport of lead into the subsurface soils.
Water quality tests also indicated that the groundwater is unimpaired by activities at the Barnstable Shooting Range.
Still, Ells said the state is looking for more acreage in the swap.
“Identifying and resolving how large and the exchange of land is key to being able to move forward with this,” said Ells. “Bottom line is we can do a land swap, the state’s looking for an acre to acre swap, they haven’t really moved from that position.”
Barnstable Community Services Director Lynne Poyant presented to Town Council her findings after a survey was completed by permit holders.
The survey asked who would be interested in a shooting range in West Barnstable and how much they would pay to use it.
Department of Public Works Director Dan Santos also spoke to councilors about his discussions with members of the Department of Environmental Protection about the lead that is on the site and funding that he has put together for a site assessment.
The assessment is needed for the town to move forward on managing and cleaning the site in the future.
Ells said that there are still a lot of options on the table, including re-opening the range, but it comes down to economics and environmental clean-up.
By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter
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