A committee of scientists with the National Academies met on the Cape this week to learn more about the Massachusetts Army National Guard's proposal to build a machine gun range.
The committee has been charged with studying the proposed gun range and its environmental impacts and coming up with advice on how to move forward. The consensus study is being sponsored by the National Guard.
The nine-member committee includes eight experts—all scientists and engineers—and one National Academies staff member, Sarah Juckett.
“Each draft report undergoes a rigorous peer review to ensure that our advice is grounded in the best available evidence,” Juckett said. “The committee discussions and conclusions are not subject to influence from the sponsors or from special interests.”
The committee had an all-day information gathering session in Bourne on Wednesday that included a presentation from National Guardsmen, a presentation from the U.S. Geological Survey, and a community engagement session.
All commenters in the session spoke against the proposal. Most were concerned about water, citing a 2024 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finding that the proposed gun range could contaminate local drinking water.
After the EPA announced those findings, Governor Maura Healey effectively killed the gun range project when she blocked the Guard from getting building permits for the project, and then funding for the gun range expired.
Commenters expressed frustration that the project was still being considered after that, including Sandwich resident Mary Beth Horton.
“I'm not sure why we're doing this again after the EPA already stated that there is potential risk to our drinking water,” she said. “It’s very concerning.”
Executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod Andrew Gottlieb was one of multiple commenters who made reference to the fact that past training activities on the Joint Base have already contaminated groundwater.
“The base is one of the largest and most expensive publicly funded hazardous waste sites in Massachusetts, with an ongoing public cost of cleanup already in excess of $1.2 billion,” he said. “More needs to be done to evaluate proposals for new and expanded training before they're allowed.”
The committee did not respond to any of the individual comments, but the chair, Gregory Baecher, thanked the public for their comments and said the committee would be taking them into consideration.
The next day, the committee visited the site of the proposed gun range on the base. That visit and a subsequent meeting was closed to the public.
Juckett did not respond to questions about how often and how long the committee would be meeting before preparing a public report.
