COER’s Position on the Navy’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
The Navy’s DEIS ignores the harmful consequences of Growler operations taking place. It does not address the true environmental and public health consequences of planned Growler increases. The DEIS is flawed by design and prepared in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The Navy should relocate touch-and-go Growler training from Whidbey Island to another less populated and environmentally sensitive location.
On COER’s position concerning the DEIS: we are reviewing the DEIS and will prepare detailed comments to the Navy. This is not being done to legitimize the Navy’s actions, but rather to set the stage for a legal challenge to the adequacy of DEIS. The following are a few observations:
- The DEIS misrepresents the impacts of Growler noise. No measurements of noise were taken in communities. Instead, the Navy used computer modeling that averaged periods of noise with long period of silence.
- The DEIS ignores overwhelming scientific and medical evidence of harms caused by hazardous Growler noise. It presents no evidence that those harms are not now occurring and will not occur in the future
- ALL of the alternatives for Growler operations proposed by the Navy will create more noise and harms in communities throughout the Puget Sound. The DEIS’s alternatives only shift the burden of harms between communities.
YOUR Comments to the Navy
Review the DEIS at http://www.whidbeyeis.com and make detailed comments if you wish. However, it helps if you do nothing more than summarize your objections. (Jan. 25th is the deadline for making comments)
- EMAIL and post your comments at http://www.whidbeyeis.com
- MAIL OR FAX to, Public Affairs Office Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command 1562 Mitscher Avenue, Suite 25 Norfolk, Va. 23551-2487 Fax: (757) 836-3601
- TAKE your comments and concerns to a Navy “Open House” meeting. (below)
Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 at Fort Worden State Park Conference Center, USO Hall 200 Battery Way, Port Townsend, 3 to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Oak Harbor Elks Lodge Grande Hall, 155 NE Ernst St., Oak Harbor 4 to 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Lopez Center for Community and the Arts, 204 Village Road, Lopez Island 3 to 6 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 8, Seafarers’ Memorial Park Building, 601 Seafarers’ Way, Anacortes 3 to 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 9 Coupeville High School, Coupeville 4 to 7 p.m.
Boy up are just a special kind of stupid aren’t you? Catch a clue. Whidbey Island NAS was around loooooooong before anyone else decided to move and develop the island for civilian use. You should have thought about such things before you moved there.
Well you didn’t appeal the 2005 Environmental Assessment (EA) into EA-18G Growler basing so your ability to close OLF in court is next to nil. You ran out of time to appeal.
Had I know this was in the works I would never have moved here. This is bad for human mental health and destructive to wild life; they will absolutely suffer form this noise. To me it is an easy trade off. We don’t really need more war machines. That is why the government tries to keep everyone in a state of fear to make things like this happens. It changes every thing on the peninsula for the worst. It is a sad sad day for all.