Gun range noise irks residents
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL - It is not even winter and Dorothy Gratton is contemplating wearing earmuffs inside her house. According to Gratton, there is a consistent throbbing of gunshots emanating from the Monmouth County Police Academy's outdoor firing range, which is near her Brickyard Road home.

Gratton has spoken out about the issue and has asked the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders to address the situation.

The Monmouth County Police Academy outdoor firing range has been in operation since 1967.

Due to lead contamination, the range shut down for remediation in 1997. Since it reopened, neighbors who live nearby have complained that the noise has become disruptive to their quality of life.

In a letter she wrote to officials, Gratton said, "the firing was not a problem before as it was small guns and very intermittent. This horrible situation started in mid-May this year. The firing of assault weapons, repeating rifles and heavy guns was not there in the past. There was a low use. Now the neighborhood is subjected to this constant barrage from morning to night."

Resident Rosemary Love shared Gratton's sentiments and said, "I feel like we are in the midst of World War III. They shoot all day long and have disrupted our quiet neighborhood. They need to either do something to lower the volume of the firing or stop operation at a reasonable time. I have lived here 38 years … and I don't ever remember it being this loud or sounding so close."

According to a document provided by the Board of Freeholders, the acoustics of the firing range have changed because of reconstruction.

Law enforcement personnel used to fire into 40-foot sand berms. The berms have been removed because of the lead contamination from the ammunition. The berms have been replaced by a steel bullet catcher and a timber backstop and side containment walls, according to information provided by the freeholders.

John G. McCormack, the director of the Monmouth County Police Academy, offered some other reasons why the level of noise coming from the firing range may have increased. He said there are more people using the firing range than in the past and they are using larger and more powerful weapons.

"Since 9/11 there has been more mandated training and firing of weapons," Mc- Cormack said. "Almost all of the police departments in Monmouth County use this range, in addition to federal agencies."

McCormack said that on July 23 "there was an 18-page report titled 'Noise Evaluation, Monmouth County Shooting Range' conducted by the PMK Group of consulting environmental engineers. The study showed the measure of sound pressure emanating from the site is in compliance with Howell's noise ordinance."

He said the county is doing its best to accommodate residents.

"We are trying our best to make it acceptable so that we do not disrupt the quality of life" for those residents, he said.

The firing range's hours of operation used to be from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. He said he has changed the hours to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., in addition to a cease fire on Saturdays.

"We are still trying to go above and beyond to lessen the noise coming from that site. In fact, the county has allocated money for an environmental firm to come in and do a study to find more ways to relieve the sound," McCormack said.

He said although firing has been scheduled to stop at 6 p.m., officials are still trying to figure out how they will conduct night firing which is mandated by the state Attorney General's Office and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

"We want to work with the residents and will do anything the environmental study suggests," McCormack said.

Gratton and her neighbors just want relief. As she said, "This is not fair to the residents. These are our homes. We are being assaulted. We are not being anti-American."