Nearly 500 people crowded into Central Whidbey’s historic Crockett Barn and spilled out into the surrounding grass during a rally against military jet noise Wednesday.
Sound Defense Alliance held three simultaneous events in protest of the Navy’s plans to bring 36 more EA-18G Growlers to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and to increase the amount of practice at the Outlying Field Coupeville by as much as 370 percent.
Organizers led a crowd of about 180 people outside in a “card stunt.”
Bob Pennington was perched high above in a cherry picker, videotaping as people — some wearing faux or real hearing protection — held up cards spelling out messages that could only be read from the sky.
“No new jets. No new flights. Do U hear us?” the cards said.
The organizers also made an animated video in which the cards flip to reveal messages as a “Growler” flies through the crowd.
“The idea is that the Growlers are dividing the community,” explained Jen Pennington, who was organizing the card stunt from a ladder.
The video can be viewed at www.facebook.com/SoundDefenseAlliance.
Coupeville resident Marion Attwood, chairwoman of Sound Defense Alliance, said the rally drew people from across Whidbey Island.
“It’s a huge unifying event that can’t be understated,” she said, explaining that other rallies were held in Port Townsend and on Fidalgo and Lopez islands.
People attending the rally said they were concerned about the sheer scale of the increase in Growler practice and how it would impact the community, the environment and the economy.
Nick Lyle of Freeland, who was wearing ear protection made from plastic cups, said he sometimes hears the aircraft at his home, miles away from the airfield.
“I attempted to camp at Deception Pass and the Growlers ruined the trip,” he said.
The final Environmental Statement, or EIS, on the increase of Growlers at the base was released last week. It outlines the “preferred alternative” for Growler operations, which was announced in the summer.
The final decision on force structure and the distribution of practice will be made by the Secretary of the Navy or his designee no earlier than 30 days after the release of the EIS.
Although Coupeville residents protested the noise the loudest over the last few years, the preferred alternative places the majority of the touch-and-go operations at OLF Coupeville.
The other option for practice is the Ault Field base on North Whidbey, but Navy officials pointed out that it supports operations for other aircraft and will still have four times the number of aircraft operations a year, compared to OLF Coupeville, under the preferred alternative.
NAS Whidbey released a statement regarding the rally, pointing out that more than just Central Whidbey is affected by aircraft noise.
“Even with the proposed increase in operations at OLF Coupeville,” the statement says, “the North Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island communities will continue to experience more noise than any other area in the Puget Sound from Navy flight operations. We support every American citizen’s rights under the Constitution to express their views and opinions.
“We have and will continue to provide facts when asked and will continue to work with elected community leaders to find mitigations when practical.”
The Navy League of the United States, Oak Harbor Area Council, released a statement saying that the “EA-18G Growler squadrons deserve both the finest training and strongest community support possible” and that Growler opposition is mostly from relative newcomers to the island.
“NASWI-based Growlers are a small and specialized community,” the press release says. “They protect our aircraft and our troops in combat, plus those of our allies. Their unique expertise and capability are unequivocally peerless, and they have saved many, many lives. Growlers are in the highest possible demand due to this protection.”
The Navy is no longer taking comments on the EIS, so Sound Defense Alliance is directing its message at the congressional delegation, Attwood said.
The group’s members said they hope that elected officials will listen and take the message to the Pentagon.
Sound Defense Alliance, which has 25,000 members, is a coalition of groups that seek to “find a better balance between the military and civilian communities,” Attwood said. She said the group is not against the Navy or the base; the members know that the decisions are being made at a higher level.
“We need our elected officials to stand up and fight against these strong-armed federal actions being taken by the Department of Defense,” Attwood said.
The controversy over jet noise has divided the Whidbey community for years, but the protest of Growler noise intensified after the Navy released plans for increasing the number of the aircraft at the base.
More than 4,300 comments were gathered by the Navy during the EIS process.
Photo by Jessie Stensland / Whidbey News-Times Jen Pennington organizes a “card stunt” during a rally against Growler jet noise in Central Whidbey Wednesday.
Photo courtesy of Sound Defense Alliance Nearly 200 people concerned about Growler jet noise participated in a “card stunt” outside the Crockett Barn Wednesday.
