U.S. District Court Judge David W. McKeague of Michigan's Western District has ruled against The Au Sable Manistee Action Council (AMAC); The Anglers of the Au Sable; The Au Sable North Branch Area Association; the Au Sable River System Property Owners Association; the County of Kalkaska; the Township of Garfield; the Township of Lovells; and the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited in their challenge of Camp Grayling's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) concerning a new battlefield range at Grayling scheduled for early 1995 construction. The Multi-Purpose Range Complex will be built near the Au Sable Mainstream and its North and East Branches.
If successful, the AMAC legal action would have required the National Guard to revise the FEIS to reflect current training needs, regulatory policies, operational impacts, and existing range contamination from decades of use.
Despite AMAC's contention that the Guard omitted many key environmental impacts from its EIS, Judge McKeague would not allow the introduction of what was termed "new" AMAC evidence.
AMAC president, Dan Alstott said, "We and our partners in this suit are naturally very disappointed with the outcome. The Guard and the government, including its courts, have a moral and ethical responsibility in this issue which has been summarily cast aside in favor of Camp Grayling's intention to enlarge its facilities to better compete with other such camps for the summer training trade. There is no national imperative; this expansion is not needed; it is a gross misuse of federal money, and, in our opinion, is a miscarriage of fiscal and environmental justice."
As to future action, Alstott said, "AMAC will continue to represent citizens and property owners who are concerned about Camp Grayling's past, present, and future effects on the area's fragile ecosystem along with the health and welfare of its inhabitants. Our goal is not to close the camp and hurt the local economy. We do believe, however, that continued irresponsible environmental management by the National Guard will have the same effect. We intend to continue monitoring range contamination testing and future proposals. One of our current goals is establishing the `cause and effect' linkage between Guard operations and area contamination."
RWOL
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