MMR Site Description

Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), a military training facility, is located on the upper western portion of Cape Cod, immediately south of the Cape Cod Canal in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It includes parts of the towns of Bourne, Mashpee, and Sandwich and abuts the town of Falmouth. MMR covers nearly 21,000 acres—approximately 30 square miles.

 MMR has three main areas:

• The industrial area in the southern part of the reservation where the U.S. Coast Guard, Army National Guard, and Air National Guard facilities are located. Aircraft runways, maintenance areas, access roads, housing, and support facilities are found in this 5,500-acre area.

• The northern 14,700-acre area, also known as Camp Edwards, which is used primarily by the Army National Guard. This area contains the 2,200-acre Impact Area, associated military training ranges, and the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

• The 750-acre Veterans Affairs Cemetery, located in the southwestern corner of the reservation.

MMR is located over the recharge area of the Sagamore Lens, the sole-source aquifer supplying drinking water for the western part of Cape Cod, known as the Upper Cape. The Sagamore Lens is a large, 300-foot-thick layer of groundwater. In general, soils in the vicinity of MMR are sandy and permeable and permit rapid groundwater movement (1–2 feet per day). The Sagamore Lens is recharged, or replenished, by rainwater that seeps through the sandy soil into the aquifer.

As part of the IRP, to date there are 15 known groundwater plumes originating from MMR – Ashumet Valley, Chemical Spill 4 (CS-4), CS-10, CS-19, CS-20, CS-21, Eastern Briarwood, Fuel Spill 1 (FS-1), FS-12, FS-13, FS-28, FS-29, Landfill 1 (LF-1), Storm Drain 5 (SD-5), and Western Aquafarm. Most have migrated beyond base boundaries. MMR and the towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich have drinking water supply wells that have been affected or are threatened by areas of contamination. Several freshwater ponds (e.g., Coonamessett Pond, Ashumet Pond, Johns Pond, and Snake Pond) are used for recreational activities and are affected or threatened by the advancing plumes of contamination. The plumes also threaten Red Brook Harbor, Megansett Harbor, and the Coonamessett and Quashnet Rivers. Pollution associated with MMR, rapid population growth in the area, and limited availability of potable water supplies have led to projections of future water shortages.