AYER, Mass. – The commander of Fort Devens Reserve Forces Training Area addressed concerns over the proposed expansion of one of the installation’s firing ranges during Lancaster’s town hall meeting on November 9th.
The renovated range will be a multipurpose machine gun range of the same type and caliber currently being fired. The proposed renovation would reorient the firing lines so that the surface danger zone associated with the range is entirely within South Post boundaries.
“The proposed renovation of this firing range would modernize the range so that it complies with current Army training and design standards,” said Lt. Col. Lindsey Halter, Fort Devens commander.
Since April 2020, the Army has provided notification of the proposed plan, as well as the environmental assessment of this project, to the town of Lancaster, which has jurisdiction over the project area. Notification was also posted on the installation’s social media pages and in the Nashoba Valley Voice, and the Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise.
The EA was published on the installation’s website from May 8 to June 8, 2020, allowing for a 30-day public comment period in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Protection Act and federal regulations.
“Many of the Fort Devens personnel not only work on the installation, but live in the surrounding area,” Halter said. “Please know what happens at Fort Devens, to our environment and in our surrounding communities is important to all of us.”
Additionally, an Installation Compatible Use Zone study was conducted in 2019 by Army Public Health Command to quantify the noise environment from military training on Fort Devens and found that the renovation of the range would result in a negligible change to the existing noise environment. This information was provided to the public in the EA.
“We're committed to continuing to having a positive working relationship with the town of Lancaster and ensuring that potential impacts to the environment from this project are minimized or mitigated to the greatest extent possible while still meeting the objective of providing our Soldiers with the best possible training,” Halter said.
Concerning the impact on groundwater, the Army has conducted long-term monitoring of the range site since 1996 in accordance with a Record of Decision issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. Since 2010, concentrations of all contaminates at the projected site have been found to meet the standards for groundwater used as drinking water.
“We will continue to monitor wells at the site during and after construction on the renovated range,” Halter said. “Also, we will prepare and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan in accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System to ensure that there is no runoff of disturbed soils from the project site.”
MassWildlife has reviewed this project, and their stated opinion is that this project will not adversely affect state listed species, provided that the conditions agreed upon with the Army are implemented. These conditions include the development and implementation of a long-term plan to provide a net benefit to the regional Blanding’s turtle population, including nest surveying and protection, and invasive species management in wetlands, which will serve as mitigation for the loss of a small vernal pool.
“We are committed to implementing those agreed-upon conditions and continuing to work with MassWildlife on the conservation of the Blanding’s Turtle and other State-listed species,” Halter said.
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2020 17:56 |
| Story ID: | 382684 |
| Location: | DEVENS, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 400 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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