Jay Town Council opposes howitzer test site in Lewis

JAY | Unconventional Concepts Inc. owner Michael Hopmeier presented details of the proposed howitzer test range to community and the Town of Jay Town Council. Land use for testing military equipment is proposed in the Town of Lewis. The special town council session in Jay does not carry weight in the ongoing Adirondack Park Agency review or for the upcoming adjudication with the hearing officer. But impact on Jay Mountain Wilderness does concern residents on the other side of the mountain, and the meeting was well attended. Adirondack Park wilderness accessed by trails in Jay are close to the proposed howitzer test site. After a presentation and question-and-answer period with Hopmeier, the Town of Jay Council passed a resolution opposing the howitzer test range permit. The vote was 3-1 with one councilor abstaining due to potential conflict of interest and another absent from the meeting. Project developer Hopmeier purchased the decommissioned U.S. Air Force Atlas missile silo and surrounding lands in Lewis in 2015 to use as a research and testing site. He is collaborating with adjoining property owner James Pulsifer of Pulsifer Logging to build the range to test M109 155 mm Howitzer cannon barrels. Public comments last October brought over 1,400 responses, of which 19 expressed support for the project. Hopmeier reiterated details already stated in his final APA application. But he did add some context as residents from Jay, Lewis and nearby communities struggled to learn why howitzer testing requires rural reaches of the Adirondack Park. Most local and business operations build ways of life tuned to forests, hiking and hunting in the park, one of the world's most protected outdoor recreation destinations. The location, Hopmeier said, adjoins an existing wollastonite mine where NYCO conducts routine blasting. He alleged there are 30 firing ranges, mostly private, in the Town of Lewis and that a 150mm howitzer percussion blast is no louder than a .30-06 gun. Noise disturbance to nearby homes and Adirondack Park recreation areas are primary issues scheduled for review when Adjudicatory Hearings begin Feb. 4 at APA Headquarters in Ray Brook. A weapons engineer, Hopmeier said, they would not be using live ammunition. A weapons test fire would result in no explosion. "We will be looking at internal ballistics ... things like recoil and barrel wear....measuring the effect on the gun itself from different types of propellant. We are not blowing things up. "A typical charge size (at the NYCO wollastonite mine) is 100 times the charge we would be using," he said. "Their impact on the environment is much more significant than what we are proposing to do." NYCO's mine on Oak Hill is located off Route 9, about five miles south of Hopmeier's proposed howitzer firing range. A subsidiary of Imerys SA minerals supply, an international company based in France, NYCO received APA approval to expand blasting underground last spring. The permit requires additional Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approvals. NYCO employs up to 100 people at mines and facilities in Lewis and Willsboro. The wollastonite mines were established in 1953 and operational before the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan was implemented in 1973. Mining lands now owned by NYCO were zoned Industrial Use. The howitzer testing range is proposed on Rural Use land. BARREL TESTING Internal howitzer barrel tests, Hopmeier said, measure initiation of the propellant, how it burns and expands, and how the projectile moves. "A typical (howitzer) charge is 20 pounds or less. The charges are not a high explosive, it is a high propellant." The barrel tests use steel projectiles weighing about 105 pounds each, he said. They would be fired into a standard shipping container filled with sawdust to catch them for removal. Asked how big the howitzer barrel is, Hopmeier indicated there is a range in size: Some are the size of a station wagon, others are mounted on a tracked vehicle that looks like a tank. Town of Jay Supervisor Matt Stanley asked, "What size are you using?" Hopmeier indicated they would be testing various-sized howitzer barrels, "all of the guns are standard U.S. military issue." Asked if his company has a contract with the U.S. military, Hopmeier said "all of the work we would be doing would be under contract," suggesting a military contractor and the U.S. military are essentially the same source. Asked if his Lewis test site is designed to the same safety and operational standards as a U.S. military range, Hopmeier said they recently had an inspection by a defense contract review agency to evaluate the site. He said they received licensure for testing. Stanley indicated that his career involved work with military systems at Raytheon: "Why can't they (howitzer barrels) be tested on a military facility?" Hopmeier said subcontractors are less costly and more efficient than protracted government processes needed for coordinating use on a military range. "We do the firing," Hopmeier said. "We are as good as and at times much better than the government is. We can do it within 30 days and give them better data." Asked about the firing schedule, Hopmeier repeated what is in the APA permit application: firing would take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the day. He said scheduling would depend on when they receive the parts and barrels to test. Hopmeier's permit seeks a five-year window for operations, setting a maximum of shots fired at two per day, not more than three days per week, and not more than 30 shots per year. "If we found that noise was causing a problem in the winter, we could change the schedule," he said. Unconventional Concepts would call neighbors within a two-mile radius -- or a radius set by the town -- to alert them to the firing schedule, much like NYCO does with blasting. Asked how many employees the company has, Hopmeier said they have 10 local workers right now. A combination of government and military personnel would attend howitzer firing tests, he added, with "about 25 to 30 people standing around. From a safety point of view, we would minimize the number of people (on site)." SOUND AND FURY Residents repeatedly expressed concern about environmental impacts, asking if percussion blasts from a howitzer gun could adversely affect wildlife, habitat, water quality, forests and how people recreate in the nearby wilderness. There was no clear answer. Hopmeier said he has seen no studies evaluating noise impact on wildlife: "There aren't standardized protocols to measure that." The property is already used for remote sensing tests on various equipment, he said. The forest mountain environment offers a unique opportunity to evaluate equipment performance due to variable terrain with dense forest cover and changing seasons. Residents asked if he will continue conducting military exercises at the site in Lewis, voicing the fear and intimidation they felt after a military exercise based at Hopmeier's property last fall brought in low-flying Blackhawk helicopters and drones apparently deployed for training. The exercises took place with no prior public notice, they said. The sudden, seemingly aggressive military presence impacted neighbors in Lewis and in residential areas around Wadhams, Reber and Willsboro. "Are you anticipating more (exercises) in the future? Would (the howitzer range permit) allow your company to expand those exercises?" a neighbor asked. "This work is totally unrelated to those exercises," Hopmeier said. "They would both be happening," he said, "it would just be a matter of scheduling." "The beauty and peace of the place that we live in is important to us," a neighbor reiterated. Hundreds of public comments challenged gun testing on lands set aside in the Adirondack Park for preservation, conservation and widespread recreational use. The primary economic driver in the park is tourism and outdoor sporting use of forest land: hunting, hiking fishing, camping, skiing, climbing. Hopmeier has not indicated he would "warn" public hiking groups, fishing guides or clubs of planned howitzer gun test schedules. PARTY STATUS FOR CONSERVATION GROUPS Adjudicatory hearings on the howitzer firing range begin Feb. 25 with an organizational session at APA headquarters, 1133 State Rt. 86 in Ray Brook starting at 10 a.m. Department of Environmental Conservation hearing officer David Greenwood will serve as the administrative law judge. He granted petitions for full party status to four conservation groups: the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter; Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve; the Adirondack Council, Inc. and Protect the Adirondacks!. Petitioning organizations filed acceptable petitions, he said in the Jan. 12 ruling, and demonstrated "material social, economic or environmental interest which is likely to be affected by the [APA] decision."

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Jay Town Council opposes howitzer test site in Lewis

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