[CPEO-MEF] Warren Grove (NJ) range encroachment

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Population rise puts squeeze on range 

By NICHOLAS CLUNN
Asbury Park Press
November 15, 2004

There was a time in southern Ocean County when pupils attended class in
schoolhouses, farmers grew apples only a few miles from downtown
Tuckerton, and the offensive odors of a fish factory filled
neighborhoods when the wind blew a certain direction.

The year was 1942, and the people here, as well as millions across the
country, were focused on World War II and how that conflict would affect
them. In this part of New Jersey, change came when the Navy opened the
Warren Grove Gunnery Range. Back then, the practice area was a remote
place straddling Burlington and Ocean counties where pilots could
prepare to fight the Axis forces.

While Warren Grove continues to play a vital role in training today's
fighter pilots, the sparsely populated buffer that separated targets
from civilians has shrunk. Residents of Ocean County towns that include
the range -- Stafford, Eagleswood and Little Egg Harbor Township -- were
reminded of their proximity to the country's largest Air National Guard
air-to-ground range this month when an F-16 mistakenly fired practice
rounds at a Little Egg Harbor school in rapid succession.

"Encroachment" -- the military's term for people moving closer to bases,
forts and other installations -- was much talked about during special
meetings held last week to help explain the shots that went astray. Some
considered whether today's southern Ocean County should continue to have
Warren Grove as a neighbor.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,1112977,00.html

-- 


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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