Didn't know if you had heard about this, anytime they talk about Full-Auto it peaks my interest.
Sounds like we need a range party on the Great Lakes.
Most at meeting oppose Great Lakes firing range
Thursday, October 19, 2006
By Jeff Alexander
Press News Service
SPRING LAKE -- The raging debate over the Coast Guard's proposal to establish 34 firing ranges on the Great Lakes has forced residents to confront the notion that terrorists could target sites near the nation's largest source of fresh water.
Coast Guard officials claim a terrorist attack in the Great Lakes basin is a distinct possibility. That is how the agency has justified conducting 24 live fire weapons training exercises on the lakes this year and a plan to create 34 permanent firing ranges on the lakes.
Critics argued at a meeting Wednesday in Spring Lake that the Great Lakes firing range plan is the latest example of terrorism fears run amok.
"There is no threat of terrorism on Lake Michigan. We don't even have bootleggers," said Arnie Kelm, of Norton Shores. "This a is a despicable use (of the lakes) by an arrogant military agency."
Kelm was among about 100 people who attended Wednesday's meeting on the proposed firing ranges, 14 of which would be on Lake Michigan. About 35 people spoke, most opposing weapons training on the lakes.
A few residents said they supported the plan.
"Get with it, people, we're at war and we need to be prepared," Grand Haven resident Jim Searer said.
Coast Guard Capt. Mike Parks said the agency is trying to prepare for "all threats, all hazards."
"We don't know what all the threats are," he said. "We're trying to prepare for an agile enemy."
Critics said conducting live fire weapons training -- which would involve shooting up to 430,000 lead bullets into the lakes each year -- would militarize the lakes, endanger pleasure boaters, harm tourism and potentially foul the lakes' ecosystem with toxic heavy metals.
"We're starting an arms race on the Great Lakes," said Bill Williston, a Grand Rapids resident who boats on Lake Michigan.
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, said Coast Guard boats in the Great Lakes should be armed with machine guns
"It's like an insurance policy," said Hoekstra, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, which tracks terrorist threats. "With an insurance policy, you hope you never have to use it, but if we have to, our people have to be properly trained and prepared."
The Coast Guard is holding nine meetings around the Great Lakes before Rear Adm. John Crowley Jr., head of the Great Lakes District Office, makes a final decision on the firing ranges. Crowley said it would be months before he makes his decision.
In a recent letter to newspaper editors, Crowley said threats to maritime security in the Great Lakes are "real."
"The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 caused us to refocus our security efforts against an enemy that is agile, nimble and ruthless," he said.
If approved, the 34 firing ranges and expanded weapons training exercises would make the Coast Guard one of the largest sources of lead entering the Great Lakes, according to federal data.
The Canadian government earlier this week expressed concern about the amount of lead that would be deposited by the training.
Hoekstra said he would like the Coast Guard to study alternatives to lead bullets and possibly reduce the number of proposed firing ranges.
Coast Guard officials said they need 34 ranges scattered across the five Great Lakes so that personnel do not have to travel far from their home stations to train.
Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell urged the Coast Guard to scrap the plan and stop weapons training on the lakes. Heartwell said it endangers boaters, poses risks to water quality and could harm relations with Canada.
Hoekstra mocked Heartwell's concerns about Great Lakes water quality.
"For the mayor of Grand Rapids (which routinely dumps untreated sewage into the Grand River following heavy rains) to come here and lecture us about water quality, I mean, give me a break," Hoekstra said. |
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