[CPEO-IRF] Otis (MA) options

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

I don't feel I'm in a position to judge other communities' decisions
whether to challenge base closures, but it's cleat that folks on Cape
Cod need to start discussing what will happen with Otis Air National
Guard Base IF the Air Guard leaves. Closure will mean hardship for as
many as 443 civilian employees, and many of the 62 uniformed Guard
members may choose not to follow the unit to Westfield.

But Otis is but a small fraction of the Cape Cod economy. In fact, the
land could easily generate more jobs if made available for reuse.
However, I've seen little discussion of future use. Will it remain an
airfield, with planes from the Coast Guard and commercial or general
aviation? Many communities, such as my own , have rejected non-federal
use of a former military airbase. Will portions be made available to the
Army National Guard, from adjacent Camp Edwards, to conduct training?

For starters, who will make the decision? Is the land state-owned? Which
cities/villages or other jurisdictions will have planning authority?

Finally, will the massive groundwater cleanup program interfere with any
potential reuse? Even if Otis becomes a commercial airfield, it will be
opened up to the public, potentially exposing people to residual
contamination, not to speak of the risk of visitors tripping over all
the monitoring-well markers that dot the landscape.

Lenny Siegel

******

To save Otis, leaders weigh legal options

By KEVIN DENNEHY
Cape Cod Times
September 2, 2005

A cold reality faces state leaders preparing a legal fight to save Otis Air
National Guard Base: No federal judge has overturned a decision to close a
military base since the Base Realignment and Closure Commission Act was
passed in the late 1980s.

And even though recent courtroom victories in Pennsylvania and
Connecticut offer hope that Air Guard units nationwide could be spared,
there's no guarantee that Pentagon-owned fighter jets wouldn't be sent
elsewhere.

Even still, analysts familiar with the base closure process say that, for
once, states trying to preserve Air Guard units at least have a legitimate
legal case.

For the entire article, see
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/tosave2.htm

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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