HYANNIS – The Association to Preserve Cape Cod is making an effort to stop the proposed Joint Base Cape Cod machine gun range due to environmental concerns.
The organization considers the proposed range to be a threat to public drinking water and rare species habitats, in addition to potentially contributing to matters of climate change.
They are attempting to raise support for their cause by encouraging community members to join them in reaching out to the state’s Environmental Management Commission.
The job of the Environmental Management Commission is to protect state water supply reserves.
The implementation of the machine gun range would require the clearing of 170 acres of trees to be cut on the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve.
Local opponents of the project have expressed concerns regarding previous water contamination issues traced back to the Joint Base Cape Cod and what that could indicate for the new proposed project.
The Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve is 15,000 acres in the northern training area of Camp Edwards, a training area for the National Guard.
The aquifer underneath the training area is a source of drinking area for the Cape.
APCC is hoping the Environmental Management Commission will hear out local opponents of the project, and eventually stop the project altogether.
Representatives of Joint Base Cape Cod said previously that soldiers must currently trek to Vermont to do machine gun training there, and that this new range would cut down on the logistics necessary to complete the requirement.
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