National Guard Fears EPA Review May 'Sink' Cape Machine Gun Range Project: Report

FALMOUTH, MA — An environmental group is urging Gov. Charlie Baker to shelve a proposed machine gun range at Joint Base Cape after emails showed the Massachusetts National Guard is worried the project won't hold up to growing environmental scrutiny.

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod received emails between Joint Base Cape Cod Executive Director Christopher Faux and U.S. Rep. William Keating, after filing a public records request, according to the Cape Cod Times, which first reported this story. In the emails, he said calls for further environmental review from lawmakers like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, as well as Keating, will "sink this project and dramatically impact the MA National Guard." Faux told the newspaper he will not be commenting further and simply provided the emails to the public affairs officer, per protocol.

"If that is the case, we will most likely lose the project and its funding and will have wasted 10 years of work," Faux's email on March 26 read.

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 Environmental Protection Agency said it will review the project's potential impact on the water supply. Markey, Warren and Keating welcomed the EPA's oversight in a joint statement.

"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."