Nomans Land Island

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

At the time the Navy proposed its response (munitions clearance and
remediation) at Nomans Land Island, a former range south of Martha's
Vineyard, as a model for the future cleanup of the Vieques ranges, it
appeared to consider munitions clearance on the Massachusetts island to
be virtually complete. However, subsequent aerial surveys have detected
ordnance items, and there is continuing evidence that warning signs do
not keep the public (boaters) off the island, which is now an unstaffed
National Wildlife Refuge. The state of Massachusetts continues to press
the Navy to conduct additional munitions response at Nomans Land Island.
For more information, see its web site at
http://www.state.ma.us/dep/bwsc/files/RandR/NLI/nlihp.htm. The following
is excerpted from that site.


***


Risk Reduction Activities and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Assessment 

Nomans Land Island served as a military aerial bombardment and gunnery
range from 1943 through 1996. In April 1975, 1/3 of the island on its
eastern and northeastern side was designated a "No Fire Zone" managed
under joint agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
and the U.S. Navy. This area was restricted from bombardment after 1975. 

In June 1998, under the provisions the land transfer component of the
Base Reallocation and Closure Act (BRAC), the entire island was
transferred from the U.S. Department of Defense to the Department of the
Interior. The U.S. Department of Interior conveyed to USFWS the
management responsibility for the island. USFWS now operates Nomans Land
Island as an unstaffed National Wildlife Refuge. Signs posted on the
island by USFWS make known that the refuge is "Closed to Public Access".
Uses of the island and surrounding marine resources are not authorized. 

Public awareness of the activities at Nomans Land Island increased
following the issuance of a directive from President Clinton that
addressed the Vieques Island Bomb Range in Puerto Rico. The directive
referenced the UXO clearance protocol at South Weymouth Naval Air
Station (Nomans Land Island) as the "Weymouth Standard", which would be
applied at the Vieques site. The so-called Weymouth Standard has not
been defined. 

An aerial magnetometer survey was conducted for the Navy by Oak Ridge
National Laboratory personnel and completed in October 2001. The
objectives of this survey were to identify the distribution patterns of
subsurface ordnance and ordnance debris and to correlate this
information with existing environmental data to help determine the
course of further environmental investigations.

 The U.S. Department of Navy has conducted UXO assessment and removal,
including a Release Abatement Measure (RAM) that focused on the surface
removal of ordnance items and related debris.

...

The  Department of Environmental Protection has been working with the
Navy and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the
current risk from remaining UXO and spent ordnance waste, such as the
items pictured below. Assessment of chemical contaminants associated
with range activities is ongoing. Other types of ordnance may have been
used, as several service branches used the island for target practice,
although none were discovered within the area of the surface clearance. 

At present, posted signs that remain from the Navy's ownership indicate
the presence of "Live Bombs". Other signs refer to the island's status
as a USFWS Wildlife Refuge and are posted "Closed to Public Access".
Aeronautical and maritime navigation charts indicate varying extents of
either restricted waters or "danger zones" around the island that were
prompted by the Navy's use of the island as a bombing range.

The island remains officially closed to public entry.  However, the Navy
and USFWS acknowledge first hand accounts from residents of Martha's
Vineyard that  trespass has been extensive for years. 

-- 


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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