[CPEO-MEF] Patrick ties lease to water guarantee

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Massachusetts
THE CAPE COD TIMES
Patrick ties lease to water guarantee
By Amanda Lehmert
July 24, 2003

A Cape Cod legislator is pressuring military officials to guarantee that
new water supplies will be provided to Upper Cape towns before the state
signs a lease extension at the Massachusetts Military Reservation.

State Rep. Matthew Patrick, D-Falmouth, said he is working with local
officials to make sure the military is closer to fulfilling its promise
to restore water supplies lost to contamination from the base.

Of the four towns, only Falmouth officials anticipate reaching an
agreement with the military before the public comment period on the
lease ends Aug. 15.

State negotiators have said the water guarantees - in which the military
agrees to replace water polluted by base activities with other sources
of clean water - are side agreements to the lease that would not prevent
the governor from signing the extension.

The military wants to extend the lease on the MMR by 25 years. The
extension would keep the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Massachusetts
Army National Guard and Coast Guard at the installation until 2051. A
draft of the lease is available at the Web site: www.eandrc.org.

Patrick said he hopes agreements can be reached in the next few weeks.

"Right now, they are not acceptable," he said. "If the water district
managers are not satisfied, I am not going to be able to support the
lease extension."

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/patricklease24.htm

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