The recent BRAC (base re-alignment and closure) decision to close Otis Air base was met with an unusual political alignment as well as the expected pork related weeping and moaning. The unusual aspect was the alliance between Senator Ted Kennedy and Governor Mitt Romney in a July 5th Op-Ed in the Globe opposing the closing. The expected action was that Attorney General Thomas Reilly ever on the look out for an opportunity to file a foolish law suit would do just that to prevent the action. He has as much chance to win this one as he did the last man standing effort with Microsoft.
It is interesting that a state that is loaded with politicians that are anti military will suddenly fly the flag and insist how important we are to the needs of the Pentagon when some money is at stake. This is no more obvious than Lincoln, Bedford and Lexington when it comes to Hanscom Field. It is wonderful if Electronic Systems Command is stationed there and spending billions of dollars just as long as you don’t land to many planes there or consider it for commercial use. Those towns have too much historical value for that. To many planes flying in and out would upset their serenity and damage the historical sites. Let everybody fly out of an over burdened Logan. Apparently Boston has less historical value than the suburban communities.
Let’s get back to Otis for a second and see if the opposition to its closure makes any sense. The Senator and Governor make arguments about the value of the fighter base and its response time as well as its indispensability for air to sea rescue. What they really mean is they are concerned what economic impact would be felt if the base jobs and spending were eliminated.
What benefit would there be if it was closed? One clear cut advantage would be to take a highly polluting operation off of one of the most environmentally sensitive areas on the cape. According to this sitehttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/mmr.htm the base is located over a sole source aquifer that provides drinking water for 200,000 year-round and 500,000 seasonal residents of Cape Cod. The aquifer, referred to as the Sagamore Lens, is a valuable water supply resource.
The total impact of the closure in terms of jobs is estimated to be a loss of 827. This is certainly a considerable impact however let’s contemplate for a moment the following facts. The base itself is immediately south of the Cape Cod Canal in Barnstable County and includes parts of the towns of Bourne, Mashpee, and Sandwich and abuts Barnstable. The total area of the base is roughly 22,000 acres.
I would presume that at some time after closure the state could come into possession of this vast tract of land and given the property values in that region of Massachusetts, the development, environmental and economic potential for the site far outweighs the benefit of having a few fighter planes down there. The jobs, taxes and real estate values created by the development of this property would add significantly to the surrounding communities.
