COER anticipates moving forward on a NEPA challenge to the Navy’s final EIS. Since the Navy is a federal entity – we must challenge them in Federal Court, in Seattle.
We will not know on which specific grounds we will sue until the final EIS is published in the fall of 2017, but COER and our attorney are trying to anticipate what those challenges may be and are preparing for them now. There are thirteen different legal paths that we are considering.
COER may file more than one lawsuit, depending upon the completeness of the Navy’s final EIS.
The more success we have – the more costly it will be. So we must raise funds for success. Appeals are heard in the 9th Circuit Court in California by three judges and this will add about $100,000 to our costs. Many groups don’t appeal, because it is expensive. We hope to be able to have a designated ‘Appeal fund’ that will make it possible for COER to take our complaint out of Washington and down to California with 3 Federal judges if necessary.
COER has retained one of Washington State’s best environmental Attorneys, David Bricklin, who assisted in presenting COER’s comments and expert’s testimony during the DEIS comments period; we hope to have one of the Bricklin attorneys devoted half time to our legal efforts.
What we are doing
- Retained David Bricklin
- Preparing for likely EIS challenges
- Building an Appeals Fund
- July 2019: COER and the Washington State AG filed NEPA lawsuits against the U.S. Navy. Both cases consolidated in October 2019.
- February 2020: COER filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to roll back the EA-18G “Growler” carrier landing practice at OLF Coupeville to pre-2019 levels.
NOTE: While we very much appreciate all donations, we prefer them to be delivered by check, so that we do not lose any funds to online banking fees. In order to send us a check, make sure to select the “Offline Donation” option for further instructions, and still fill out the donation amount and your information so our webpage adds your donation to the total. If you prefer to use Paypal, then choose that option and fill out the form.
Thank you very much, either way!
We welcome anyone, regardless of race, creed, or country of origin, to join our efforts in support of our mission. Those who make a donation and/or volunteer to assist COER on any of our important tasks or actions are members and will, by providing your email, address be included on our member notices roster.
