Editor,

Thank goodness media has shed light on the decimation of the soundscape the Growler jets present, especially here on Whidbey.

The growing numbers of testimonials and empirical data bears witness to the magnitude of the jet noise and shouldn’t be so easily dismissed by base commander Capt. Matt Arny. His attempt to hide behind historical precedence, environmental stewardship and location technicalities overlooks what we in Coupeville know is an existing nuisance and growing menace.

Good to know that Arny agrees altitude matters as Growlers roar over our homes at less than 200 feet.

“Short durations of localized noise” describes test flights of Boeing jets or commercial flights overhead at safe altitudes; not hours of deafening noise day after day, week after week.

In his Sound Off last Wednesday, Arny objects to the extrapolation of data, yet that’s exactly what the Navy did when constructing noise “models” for use of the Growler here.

I reject the notion that the Navy is “making every effort to minimize effects in places (we) train …”; there’s been no evidence of that effort here in Coupeville.

Patricia Dunn

Coupeville