Guest Column: Public Hearing for Injunction to Stop Growlers

— from the Citizens of Ebeys Reserve —

Representatives of citizen groups traveling from Whidbey Island and surrounding areas will be at the Federal Courthouse in Seattle to hold a 1 p.m. news conference on Wednesday, July 15, and attend a hearing on their Motion for an Preliminary Injunction to stop the Navy’s harmful low-level fighter jet training operations over residential areas in Coupeville, WA.

Unlike similar legal actions against the Navy that allege harms to property, wildlife, and the environment, this case is unique in that it involves allegations that the Navy is causing “irreparable” harm to human health. The citizens’ allegations are supported by declarations from medical experts, noise experts, and victims of the Navy’s low flying EA18G Growler aircraft, the loudest jets yet to fly.

According to Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve (COER), the central issue in this case is whether or not the Navy has the right to harm the very people it is supposed to be protecting. The Navy is in court to argue that it has that right, according to COER.

This potentially precedent-setting case is of concern to communities across the country now being impacted or targeted for domestic warfare training operations. It is of concern to residents of the Olympic Peninsula where the Navy proposes to conduct electromagnetic warfare training with EA18G Growler jets over the Olympic National Forest.

Citizens will arrive by bus to attend the 10:00 AM hearing to be held in the courtroom of Judge Thomas S. Zilly. The hearing, at which citizen and Navy attorneys will plead their case, is expected to end by noon. It is not known if the judge will make a decision at that time.

Copies of the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Case number: CV13-1232Z) and supporting declarations can be viewed at www.citizensofebeysreserve.com