— from Cynthia Dilling —
Crowds of all ages came together at four different locations in NW Washington to send a message to the Department of Defense in Washington D.C.: No New Jets No New Flights.
Approximately 700 people at 4 different events (500 Coupeville, and approximately 75 at each venue for Port Townsend, Lopez Island, and Anacortes) came to send a message loud and clear to their elected
officials and the Navy – We hear you. Do you hear us? No New Jets. No New Flights. Post cards were written and social media was engaged to send messages to elected officials in Washington D.C. This link has video of the performance of almost 500 people sending a message to the DoD.
The Department of Defense (DoD) released their Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on Friday, September 28 proposing massive increases in Growler jets at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) in geographic impact and operational activities across Puget Sound. In response, community rallies across Puget Sound attracted enthusiastic crowds to send a message to their elected officials, who have only the next 24-days to comment and to influence the DoD. Our Congressional Delegation and the Governor have a limited window in which to influence this decision.
According to Maryon Attwood, Chair of the Sound Defense Alliance, “The Department of Defense is trying to convince the public that this final preferred plan is a reduction, not an expansion.
“Information cards are being sent from the Navy to people’s homes to claim a 30% reduction from the draft EIS as a framework to make the proposal look less impactful. This is blatantly untrue. You can’t claim a reduction on something that never existed. They are trying to hide the fact that their proposal is all about huge increases: 36 more jets, increased operations at Ault Field, major increases at Outlying field in Coupeville (4 times more) and increased geographic noise and pollution encroachment
over regions of the Pacific Northwest that have not been previously impacted. In fact, new noise will occur in many new areas at dangerously loud levels. Never before has the Navy been allowed to fly more than 50% of their Field Carrier Landing practices (FCLPs) at the OLF in Coupeville. Now they propose to increase FCLP’s by 80% over Coupeville (from 6100 to 24,000 operations) threatening Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve and Central Whidbey’s schools, gathering centers and the County hospital.
“Our communities have partnered with the Military in protecting our national security for decades” but this proposal is just too much. Any expansion of the Growler Jet program is destructive to our communities because of the incredible noise, pollution, and economic impacts. We need
our elected officials to stand up for us,” stated Mark Lundsten, Indivisible Fidalgo and group member of the Sound Defense Alliance. The Sound Defense Alliance is a new voice in Washington of over 12
organizations across the region with memberships totally currently about 25,000 strong and growing, working to protect our communities and natural environment from increasing and harmful impacts of expanded military activity around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula.
“There are alternatives,” Attwood says, “and we are more than willing to work with the DoD and elected officials to find better solutions to decrease the jet noise. The Navy could, for example, be dual-siting its Growler jets. Alternatives and national air security needs could be met at alternative military fields by moving some of these jets elsewhere; or they could continue to use other Naval airfields closer to deployment and maintenance areas, as they do now. Instead, the DoD has approved basing ALL of the Navy’s jet-based electronic warfare assets on Whidbey Island. Single siting Growlers on Whidbey Island is a risk to national security and operational readiness. This EIS did not even look at other sites.”
“We are demanding that our leaders lead and yesterday was just the beginning ” No New Jets No New Flights,” concluded Chris Hurley, Coupeville Community Allies, group member of Sound Defense Alliance.
For more information about the Sound Defense Alliance and Quiet Skies Over San Juan County:
sounddefensealliance.org,
facebook.com/SoundDefe
quietskies.info,
facebook.com/quietskie
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Thank you, Cynthia Dilling, for your dilligence and perseverance in standing up against any expansion of NAS Whidbey’s destructive noise, pollution, and economic impacts that affect our beautiful island community.
Agree with Dan. This is important to know and to also know how to respond.
It’s also another example of how the OI delivers critical information directly to our community.
Thank you, Editors of the OI, for choosing wisely.
Thank you, Cynthia Dilling for calling out the Navy’s refusal to look at alternatives to Whidbey Island for basing all growlers; then lying to us by trying to say that it’s a reduction. They were doing much of these growler exercises in Idaho, but the pilots complained that they couldn’t get home in time for dinner! Outrageous! Send ’em back to the boonies of Idaho or Montana or some other place with hardly any people!
It is just plain stupid to put all of our defense in one or two places in Washington; that makes us sitting ducks to their stupidity. We heard all the arguments from the Navy on why they have to trash Whidbey and the Olympic Forest. Why do they get to call the shots over millions of civilians in the most lush and vulnerable places in our state?
What are the next steps citizens and our representatives can take? These are not the “sounds of freedom” – they’re the sounds of tyranny in a country addicted to war.
“Not in my backyard”, “send them somewhere else” said a few people.
Fair point, John.
But then I never understood why not wanting something very disruptive to a community’s quality of life was something for which an apologoy was ever necessary.
Just another example of the unavoidable hypocrisy found in many “politically correct” positions.
No one wants disruptive and degrading environmental conditions in their backyard, or in a community’s backyard, and they shouldn’t apologize for this position.
“They” should look to the bad actors involved and demand a course correction. “They” should look for the county or state to relocate as necessary and spend general taxpayer funds for this purpose so that we all share equally in manitaining everyone’s safe and enriching community where children can be raised safely while the rest of us grow old.
What’s hypocritical here is that if the target is not liked from a politically correct perspective, then it’s okay to say “not in my backyard.”
Where if it’s a drug rehab center, halfway house, military enhancement action, or a special school for troubled kids who’ve commited violent crimes then saying “not in my backyard” makes you narrow minded.
Just some observations about the many contradictions and hypocrisy afoot.
Is it any wonder we’re a bit tired of “political correctness” and the poor rationale offered in its defense.