Opinion/Your Turn: Protection of drinking water outweighs proposed machine gun range
As a lead planner for water quality for more than 40 years, I have been actively involved in the aquifer cleanup and monitoring of the 20,000-acre Joint Base Cape Cod, formerly known as the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR).
I served on the first MMR technical committee in 1989, examining the impact of solvents and fuels discharged to groundwater beneath the base. The 1998 Army National Guard’s initial draft report concluded that there was no real contamination from the Impact Area (the munitions target area) but community pressure and a revised work scope resulted in finding significant groundwater contamination from explosives.
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At the same time, the Army National Guard was proposing numerous training projects leading the way to community demand for an overall master plan for the base. The master plan was clear that the northern portion of the base be dedicated to preserving future water supply and, in the days after 9/11, Gov. Jane Swift signed legislation to establish the 15,000-acre Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve. The intent was to prioritize water supply protection and to only allow “boots on the ground” under a set of rigorous environmental performance standards. These standards were hammered out in a series of meetings at the Massachusetts Office of Environmental Affairs with Cape planners and the military.
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The proposed machine gun range is a project that targets intensive training within the Water Supply Reserve. It calls for clearing 170 acres of pine/oak forest to establish a state-of-the-art range. I know from numerous studies and my own career that disturbing ground cover releases numerous compounds, including soil elements, macro and micronutrients, residual legacy contaminants and sequestered atmospheric compounds, from the soil to groundwater, even to depths of more than 100 feet to the aquifer.
The proposed activities will generate additional sources of contaminants that will inevitably escape engineered containment attempts that satisfy regulators. The Army National Guard's report concluded that the project would have no significant environmental impact and should be approved by the Reserve’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC) at an upcoming meeting.
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“No significant impact” means we are left with some degree of impairment that trends toward impact. This is the same type of compromise that was arrived at by Cape planners decades ago to allow some degree of pollution from septic systems that would be just under the state and federal drinking water standards. Well, we are paying the price for that compromise now in the need for sewers to reduce nitrogen in our groundwater to restore our estuaries. At the same time, we are paying to treat drinking water to prevent contamination from new threats such as PFAS compounds.
The intent of the Base Master Plan and the Water Supply Reserve are clear. This is a water supply protection area for now and for the future. The water reserve is not a commodity to be bargained away; it can supplement future water needs for the populations of Sandwich, Mashpee, Bourne and Falmouth. We should not accept impairment today because the military says there is no significant impact now but who knows what tomorrow will bring?
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Too many people have worked faithfully to correct the problems of yesterday at the base by reserving a piece of assurance for tomorrow. The EMC can and should deny the project and send the Army National Guard back to “boots on the ground training” as allowed under the Environmental Performance Standards.
Thomas C. Cambareri served as the Director of Water Resources for the Cape Cod Commission/Barnstable County for more than 30 years and is now a privately practicing hydrogeologist.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Opinion: Joint Base Cape Cod: Water preservation outweighs gun range
