At the request of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will address the following scientific and technical issues related to potential aquifer contamination from small arms ranges. Specifically, the committee will:

1. Provide a brief overview of the history of military and contractor activities contributing to the current state of soil and groundwater contamination at Camp Edwards.
2. Discuss the elements of a conceptual site model for small arms ranges at Camp Edwards, including contaminant sources at firing and target lines, rates and pathways of contaminant movement in soil, pore water, and groundwater, and the potential for human exposure via drinking water.
3. Assess the history and current components of a) comprehensive monitoring plans and b) mitigation strategies for gun range contaminants in soil, pore water, and groundwater at Camp Edwards, considering past contamination, future potential loading, and water quality standards and action levels.
4. Evaluate historic and current hydrologic and water quality models used to predict the fate and transport of contaminants related to small arms ranges at Camp Edwards from their sources to groundwater, assessing their effectiveness in predicting aquifer impacts.
5. Recommend updates to research, monitoring, and modeling activities to ensure small arms range training at Camp Edwards poses no significant risk to the underlying aquifer.
As part of the information-gathering process, the committee will also engage with the local community to understand their perspectives concerning groundwater and soil impacts from small arms ranges at Camp Edwards.