In a much anticipated move, Gov. Maura Healey has blocked the Massachusetts Army National Guard from signing a building contract for the proposed machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod because the project is still undergoing state review.
In 2020, Congress authorized the Guard to spend $9.7 million on the range by Sept. 30, 2024, but with Healey's decision, Guard officials were forced to watch the money expire at midnight on Monday.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Governor Healey said her administration made the decision in an effort to balance environmental protection, quality of life on Cape Cod and resource management for the Massachusetts National Guard.
"Governor Healey did not approve the signing of the contract for the development of a Multipurpose Machine Gun Range at Joint Base Cape Cod because the funding has not been reauthorized and the project was still undergoing review," the statement read. "Our administration remains committed to working with General Keefe and his team and our Congressional delegation to meet the long-term training needs of the National Guard.”
In response to the governor's decision, a Guard spokesperson instructed CAI to "please direct all inquiries to the governor’s office."
It's a major setback for Guard officials, who have said the range is necessary to help soldiers meet weapon readiness requirements as they train for federal missions. They have also argued the range plan is in line with their dedication to wildlife habitat and water supply protection.
Perhaps most strikingly, it marks the first time Healey has directly and publicly made a move to stop the Guard from moving forward with the range.
“We haven't been too involved in that issue," she told CAI in June, 2022. "So I have to look at that more. But look, you know, I am all about ensuring that our environment is protected, that our soil, our air, our water — that's really, really important to me.”
Gun range opponents — a group that includes activists, local officials and more — are counting the governor's act as a major victory in the fight to protect the environment and drinking water on Cape Cod.
The Association to Preserve Cape Cod has provided one of the loudest voices in opposition to the range. Executive director Andrew Gottlieb wrote in a statement, sent out to the organization's supporters after the news was released Monday morning, "APCC has long considered that the construction of the [machine gun range] represents a significant threat to the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve... APCC has argued that alternatives exist that would provide the required and necessary training to National Guard troops without threatening the water supply. Today’s announcement validates and reinforces that view."
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Range opponents often point to draft findings from the Environmental Protection Agency that say therange could contaminate a major drinking water source on Cape Cod.Until that issue — among others — is addressed and the project earns final approval from the state, they said, the Governor should make sure no building contract is awarded.
"Cape Codders owe the Governor a huge debt of gratitude for listening to our concerns and sharing our commitment to stewardship of our fragile natural resources," said State Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro). "I’m grateful to my colleagues in the legislative delegation, who once again spoke with one voice on an important regional issue."
It's not clear whether the Guard is looking for or has already found another way to fund a contract, but this summer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Bill Keating made that effort far more difficult when they stripped language out of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that would have granted a one-year funding extension on the $9.7 million.
“I said to the other senators when we were working on the bill that, with this negative preliminary report, I didn't want to spend taxpayer dollars to start moving forward on something that might never be a reality,” Warren told CAI at the time. “I want to wait until the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]finishes its workand issues a final report.”
The funding setback does not kill the Guard's range plan, which is roughly a decade in the making. But it demonstrates a significance alliance in political will among Cape Cod officials and the office of Gov. Healey.
This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by CAI.