History of the Movement
It has been well over 10 years since the first Growlers arrived, in 2013, consolidating the Navy Growler jet fleet and training operations NASWI and impacting areas surrounding Whidbey Island, the Olympic Peninsula, and Methow Valley. Since that time, Sound Defense Alliance and Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve (COER) have engaged in political and legal advocacy work, while local researchers have conducted multiple studies documenting the noise levels and impacts
2009First Growler jets arrived to NASWI -57 jets to replace the 72 Prowlers.
2012 - OctoberNavy completed an Internal Environmental Assessment (EA) which added 26 more Growlers - 26 including 5 from the reserve unit that were transferred. New total: 57+26 = 83 Growler jets at NASWI.
Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve (COER) was founded. COER brought community efforts for the Navy to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
2012COER demanded an EIS per NEPA.
2013COER conducted Independent Nose Tests – “The Lilly Report”.
2013COER filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Navy from training Growlers at the Out Lying Field (OLF) in Coupeville until an EIS is done on the transition to Growlers at OLF. The original EIS was amended to add more jets and the final was to be released in 2018– flights were stopped for the rest of the year.
2013Delegation of COER members goes to Washington D.C to meet with the Washington State Congressional delegation.
2014 - AprilCOER fought the Navy’s Expansion Request.
2014 - AugustCOER presented to community groups on Whidbey Island, Skagit Valley, the Olympic Peninsula, and the San Juans Islands.
2014 - 2016Injunction VS Flights – COER requested a preliminary injunction to stop Growler flights until the EIS was completed. COER alerted and supported the community regarding water contamination by the Navy.
2015 - AprilCOER filed a complaint to the State Board of Health (BOH) against the Island County BOH for not taking action on the public health issues of noise. This was the State BOH’s first investigation of a County BOH in 25 years. RESULT: WA State Department of Health declared noise is a public health issue.
2016 - OctoberNavy’s Final EIS added 35 more jets for a total of 118 Growlers at NASWI.
2016 - NovemberEarthFix produced “The Peaceful Rainforest And The Growler Jets” video, increasing public around the Growler jet noise in the Olympic rainforest.
2016The National Park Service (NPS) produced an Acoustical Monitoring Report on Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve.
2016COER organized public meetings on the Navy’s water contamination of drinking water in communities on Whidbey Island.
2016 - 2017COER wrote letters to the Navy and attended WA State Chemical Action plan meetings on PFAS and PFOAs.
2017Initiated by the community, Michael H. Shuman produced a report on “Invisible Costs: The $122 Million Price Tag for The Naval Air Station Whidbey Island”.
2017COER became a registered 501(c)3 organization.
2017COER worked with journalist, reporter, and author, Dahr Jamail, to produce over 20 articles about the Growlers and their expansion in the region.
2017 - 2018Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin produce “Plane Truths”, a 33-minute documentary exploring the environmental and community impacts of increased Growler jet training at NASWI.
“This documentary shows how the opaque and secret activities of the military have had a corrosive impact on the environment, creating 'sacrifice zones' of communities that have become, essentially, collateral damage of the US military-industrial complex... Powerful documentary."
- Andrew Jenks, Educational Media Reviews Online
2018 - April