A committee of scientists at the National Academies began meeting this week to answer scientific and technical questions about the multi-purpose machine gun range proposed for Joint Base Cape Cod, reigniting a charged and year-long debate among environmentalists and concerned citizens.
There’s been little said publicly about the proposed gun range since Governor Maura Healey effectively killed the project in September 2024.
Environmentalists and local elected officials are reacting with concern that the military is again trying to move forward with the plan.
Andrew Gottlieb is president of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, a local environmental nonprofit that has opposed the machine gun range for years. He called the gun range proposal a “zombie project.”
“The United States taxpayers shouldn't have to be funding yet another review of a project that's been rejected repeatedly since 1989,” he said. “So yeah, we don't like the fact that it's ongoing.”
The Trump administration allocated approximately $1 million for this environmental review, according to Mark Forest, chair of the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners.
The Healey administration quashed plans for the gun range two years ago after a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency left questions on the table as to how the proposed gun range could impact the Cape’s environment, especially water quality.
The next month, staff from the Massachusetts Army National Guard, the EPA and the National Academies of Science and other experts met to talk about what scientific questions still needed to be answered. According to the National Academies website, the current scientific review came out of that meeting.
The website also says the purpose of the review is to “ensure small arms range training poses no significant risk to the underlying aquifer.”
The nine-member committee of scientists met behind closed doors for its inaugural meeting on Thursday, August 13.
The day before, Barnstable County Commissioners voted unanimously to oppose the National Academies’ review.
Commissioner Ronald Bergstrom acknowledged the need for spaces for the U.S. military to train, but he said he felt the EPA had already spoken with its finding in 2023 that the proposed gun range could contaminate the aquifer that sits under the base.
“If history is any judge, any investigation done by the current administration is simply going to result in a predetermined result that's favored by the administration,” Bergstrom said. “It's not going to be very objective, so I think it's a waste of $1 million.”
But Gottlieb had a little more faith than the County Commissioners when it came to how unbiased the review will be.
“I also … have confidence that the National Academies of Science is a credible organization that will come up with an independent review of the questions they're asked to answer,” he said.
Gottlieb said his organization will be closely following the committee meetings. Some of the meetings are closed to the public, but others won’t be.
The Massachusetts Army National Guard said in a statement to CAI that it is committed to ensuring its members have a place to train while also protecting the local environment.
“The study will provide a rigorous, science-based assessment of small arms training at Camp Edwards, including potential impacts to soil, groundwater and the underlying aquifer, and recommend any needed improvements to monitoring and mitigation efforts,” a spokesperson wrote. “The process will be transparent and include robust engagement with the local community.”
You can explore our collected coverage of the machine gun range here.
