Editor,

Fellow islanders, I may have the almost perfect solution for reducing the anticipated noise factor from the projected increase in training sorties of the EA-18G Growlers at both Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and Outlying Field Coupeville.

It’s almost perfect in that everyone would be accommodated, but the local merchants and commerce would suffer some loss of revenue.

For those who may not be familiar, the Navy has an installation called China Lake, located in the Western Mojave Desert about 150 miles north of Los Angeles.

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is the Navy’s largest single landholding, covering more than a million acres, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

It has three operational runways that support research, development, acquisition, test and evaluation, and weapon practice sorties already for F/A-18Es.

A simple solution that would resolve environmental impact and health concerns from increased Super Hornet activity in the local area, would be to relocate the addition variant flying to the China Lake facility, and keep the same present level of activity that the island has endured.

The only complaints coming from the Mojave Desert area would be from suffering prairie dogs and Gila monsters.

Thomas Carey

Freeland