Joint Base Cape Cod Officials Wait for EPA Review of Proposed Gun Range

BOURNE – The commander of Camp Edwards said Massachusetts Army National Guard officials are waiting to move forward with a proposed machine gun range for Joint Base Cape Cod until an Environmental Protection Agency review related to the project is complete.

Colonel Matthew Porter spoke at a recent Falmouth Select Board meeting and explained why he believed the Environmental Management Commission, an Army National Guard group that works to protect the drinking water supply of the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve, had not made a final vote to approve the gun range yet.

“The EMC is waiting for the Sole Source Aquifer review to be complete by the EPA in order to have more transparency and understand exactly if there’s any issue that’s going on, which I’m confident there is not, but we’re still going to wait for that,” Porter said.

The EPA review recently received more time to determine whether the range has potential to damage local water quality and create a public health hazard.

Porter estimated that the EPA’s review could be finished sometime in the winter.

The commander also stated that army officials made sure the project underwent NEPA and MEPA processes, which are national and state environmental review procedures.

By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

About Brian Engles

Brian Engles is a longtime local of the Cape. He studied Film & TV at Boston University and in addition to his role at Cape Cod Broadcasting Media, he also works as a music instructor and records original songs.



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