“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” – Damon Runyon
It is generally true that when pitted against big and well financed interests that efforts to protect the environment tend to come out on the losing end. That does not mean that the fights are not worth undertaking nor does it mean that loss is inevitable. In fact, we may well be on the brink of seeing two major victories for the environment unfold right here on Cape Cod. Two damaging and unnecessary projects, the proposed siting of a machine gun range on top of the water supply for the Upper Cape and the release of 1.1 million gallons of radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay, deemed unstoppable by their proponents, appear to be on the ropes.
In response to almost two years of vocal opposition from APCC and others, the EPA recently issued a draft finding that the proposed machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod represented a significant threat to the public water supply of the Upper Cape. There is a public hearing process to allow comment on the finding and APCC strongly encourages you to share your concerns about the range with the EPA.
APCC has provided a detailed legal analysis to the Healey administration outlining that the discharge of wastewater proposed by Holtec violates state law and cannot be permitted. The APCC legal brief has changed the discussion from one marked by resignation that such an outrage could happen and that the Commonwealth had no way to stop it, to one of optimism that in cannot be legally allowed.
In both instances, the needs of the environment and the people who rely on clean water have begun to take precedence over the efforts of powerful project proponents to damage important environmental resources of Cape Cod. But the game is not yet over and final decisions putting a stop to these proposals have yet to be issued. Until final and binding project denials have been issued, we all need to stay engaged, involved and active.
Unlike the Bruins, we can’t let our focus wane in the final minute. APCC will keep fighting these projects hard until the final seconds have elapsed and you need to do the same. Our long shot bet has not been won yet and now is not the time to let up. I assure you that the project proponents have not thrown in the towel.
