Environmental Impacts of Military Range Use

Abstract

The Massachusetts Army National Guard operates the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), located on Cape Cod. In 1997, MMR received the first of four Administrative Orders (AO) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to concerns over potential groundwater contamination in the training area and range complex. The second AO issued in April of 1997 prohibited the use of the artillery, mortar, and small arms ranges at MMR. This was the first time that military training on an active military range had been stopped by the EPA. The ARNG has spent upwards of $350 million over the last 12 years to study and remediate contamination as stipulated by the EPA. As of this date the AOs have not been closed and the ARNG still cannot use the ranges at MMR. Would MMR set a precedent that would threaten training on other military ranges? This study will review what the Army has learned about the impacts of military ranges on the environment. This knowledge has important implications for the continued use of the Army's ranges to conduct realistic live-fire training.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 18, 2010
Accession Number
ADA561209

Entities

People

  • Gregg S. Goldsmith

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ecology
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Environmental Restoration And Remediation
  • Explosives
  • Groundwater
  • Material Degradation Processes
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Military Training
  • Munitions
  • Munitions Testing
  • National Security
  • Small Arms
  • Unexploded Ammunition
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Water Supplies

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.
  • Wetland-Land-Environmental Management.