Barnstable commission urges US lawmakers to fight additional funding for machine gun range

Barnstable County Commissioners sent a letter Wednesday to a delegation of U.S. lawmakers urging them to oppose more federal funding for a proposed machine gun practice range on Joint Base Cape Cod.

The proposed range has the potential to contaminate Cape Cod’s sole source aquifer, according to a draft determination by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Board of Regional Commissioners' letter was sent to U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Massachusetts, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts.

Two bids for construction of the machine gun range received by the Massachusetts Army National Guard have come in around $6 million over the $8.9 million estimated cost, according to documents obtained by the Times in October.

“We anticipate that the guard will be seeking more funding,” said Commissioner Mark Forest. “I think they've demonstrated that they're not going to stop. They basically have disregarded the comments from EPA, legislators and the citizenry at large and they continue to move ahead.”

Signed by Commissioners Forest, Sheila Lyons and Ronald Bergstrom, the letter references the EPA finding that says the machine gun range “would produce a four-fold increase in the amount of ammunition and associated contaminants that would be deposited on the ground over the aquifer.” It goes on to say the contaminants could reach the groundwater.

“Our Barnstable County Health and Environment Department also undertook a thorough review of the Draft EPA report and agrees completely with their analysis and conclusions,” the letter said. “This facility should not be constructed on the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve.”

Why is the machine gun practice range needed?

Joint Base Cape Cod sits on state-owned land, about 30 square miles in total, and includes five military commands, bases, and stations including the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The National Guard is at Camp Edwards, described by the Guard as the region's largest training area.

On June 22 the Army National Guard issued a request for proposals for a multi-purpose machine gun range estimated at $8.9 million, according to the release notice. The final bids were due July 17.

The machine gun range is needed because the Army National Guard soldiers need to comply with updated U.S. Army qualification standards, including no more paper targets, according to Army National Guard spokesperson Don Veitch. The machine gun range is also needed, Veitch said, because there is no other place in the state that prioritizes Army National Guard training.

Joint Base Cape Cod officials were not able to comment Friday, a spokesman said.

WES Construction Corp. of Halifax made a final bid of $15.458 million on the project, and R. Zoppo Corp. of Stoughton made a final bid of $15.554 million.

The county board has discussed the possibility of retaining legal services to assist in halting the authorization of any future funding for the project, Forest said.

“The Commissioners briefly discussed hiring a firm to assist in preventing any future appropriations and to clawback and terminate any previous authorizations,” Forest said.

Walker Armstrong reports on all things Cape and Islands, primarily focusing on courts, transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape commissioners want no more funding for base machine gun range