EPA Reviewing Proposed Cape Machine Gun Range For Water Pollution

FALMOUTH, MA — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will review the Massachusetts National Guard's plans for a proposed machine gun range at Joint Base Cape and if it poses a risk to local drinking water supplies.

The $11 million firing range would expand an existing range at the base. Guard officials said the range is needed for weapons training. Constructing it requires clearing more than 170 acres of forest to accommodate the range footprint, lighting, facilities, road maintenance and more.

Guard officials said their own environmental report of the project was "thorough" and "independent." Officials also said the Federal National Guard Bureau reviewed the range's environmental report and approved it.

But state and local officials said they are worried about the gun range's potential environmental impact, because it would be built within the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve, an important water source for Falmouth, Barnstable, Yarmouth and several upper Cape communities. The EPA, in an email to the Massachusetts National Guard, said it will review whether the machine gun range "has a potential to contaminate the aquifer creating a significant hazard to public health and to provide recommendations to protect the aquifer," the Cape Cod Times reported.

"Given the scope of this project, the level of public interest, and the petition, EPA has elected to conduct this review," the email read.

Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. William Keating, welcomed the EPA's oversight in a joint statement released Tuesday.

"We commend EPA Region 1’s decision to order a Sole Source Aquifer review of the proposed machine gun range project at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod," the statement said. "We must fully understand the impacts this gun range poses to public health, public safety, and our public lands. We are hopeful that this review will identify the potential environmental impact this project could have and provide much-needed answers to the residents of Cape Cod who remain concerned about the construction of this gun range."