Submitted by Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve

On Friday, May 9 more than 150 citizens from Northwest Puget Sound assembled at the entrance to the Navy’s Outlying Field, braving rain, hail, and scheduled flight training of the EA-18G Growlers for a peaceful protest vigil.  They were there with rain gear, signs and high spirits to protest the return of the Growlers to the OLF Coupeville, where they have been absent for 11 months, flying elsewhere.

Groups at the vigil organized by COER  represented Lopez Island, Port Townsend, and north, central and south Whidbey Island.

Just before the vigil began an announcement was made at 11:06 a.m. by Mike Welding from NASWI: “Due to a change in schedule, Field Carrier Landing Practice (by the EA-18G Growlers) at the Outlying Landing Field in Coupeville will not be conducted today.”

Though the Navy has promised for years that they would provide a schedule for the community to plan around, they don’t keep to their schedules. The Growlers were scheduled to fly Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during the first week of May. Instead, they flew Tuesday and Wednesday. School activities, business dealings, plans for dinner, etc all become victims of the unbearable noise whenever it happens. Being unprepared for this high-level of noise is not only dangerous but emotionally jarring. This past Wednesday, May 8, during the Navy’s unscheduled Growler FCLP’s at OLF they flew right over young children playing T-ball at a park located near the OLF. The game was cancelled after the children fell to the ground holding their ears. The mother of a 5-year old boy reported that her son held his ears and cried, “Mommy, my ears are breaking!”

Maryon Attwood from COER stated, “The Growlers and the location of Growler Flight Carrier Landing Practices are at issue here. These low-level, extremely loud and harmful touch-and-goes do not belong over children playing ball, farmers farming their fields, residential neighborhoods, or over our national and state parks where people expect a natural soundscape – not a military one!” People from Lopez and north Whidbey Island suggested alternative locations for Growler FCLP’s such as China Lake where there are 1 million acres of desert to practice over and where the field does not interfere with or harm the community. “The Navy has many alternatives,” stated Cynthia Dilling from Lopez Island.

COER and a growing list of citizen organizations claim that Growler operations harm the health, economic welfare, tourism, property values, and natural environment of those living in north Puget Sound, including Victoria BC, Port Townsend, Camano Island, La Conner, Fidalgo Island, Lopez, and the San Juan Islands. “This is a four-county problem,” stated Ken Pickard of COER.

“In spite of the hail and rain and black skies, we reached our attendance goal for our first vigil and hope more will stand with us at the next vigil,” concluded Michael Monson, President of COER  For more information about Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, refer to their website at http://citizensofebeysreserve.com.