Kilmer-backed $2 million to study jet noise makes it into defense budget
The Navy is continuing with its plan to bring more electronic warfare aircraft EA-18G Growlers to Whidbey Island for training, but there could be some relief on the horizon for island residents who are unsettled by the prospect of even more jet engine noise.
President Donald Trump signed the almost $675 billion fiscal year 2019 defense budget into law Friday, which allocated $2 million for the Navy to study and develop technologies that would reduce the noise produced by those jet engines.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, advocated for the funding package throughout the defense budgetary process this year.
"The reality is the Navy has important work to do with training airmen, training those who keep us safe," Kilmer said in an interview with the Kitsap Sun in August. "At the same time, the Navy needs to be a good neighbor. Part of the reason we've focused on efforts to reduce jet noise is to ensure the Navy upholds that obligation."
Although it's not immediately clear when the study will begin, the funds are now available after the new fiscal year started on Monday.
"My hope is that things start moving," Kilmer said.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is the only place where the Navy trains the two distinct types of Growler squadrons.
The predominant type of squadron based at the island deploys on an aircraft carrier as part of its embarked carrier air wing. Whidbey is also home to land-based expeditionary squadrons, which allow for increased flexibility for Navy jets to operate anywhere in the world.
In June, the Navy released a revised draft environmental impact statement that called for bringing additional Growler jets and squadrons to Whidbey Island to better meet the Navy's training requirements and operational demands.
The Navy's preferred alternative would establish two new expeditionary squadrons and add two more aircraft to each of the existing carrier air wing Growler squadrons based on the island.
That means an increase of 36 aircraft at the naval air station, for a total of nine carrier air wings and five expeditionary squadrons. More jets means more training operations, where each training operation is defined as either a take-off or landing, rather than one complete evolution.
With the additional jets, Ault Field, which is three miles north of Oak Harbor, will support an estimated 88,000 total field carrier landing practices. Outlying Field, which is two miles to the southeast of Coupeville and has a landing strip that closely simulates the conditions for touch-and-go landings on a carrier at sea, will support 24,000 operations.
While operations at both airfields would increase under the proposal, Ault Field will support about four times the number of actions as Outlying Field.
The Navy estimates Outlying Field would support 360 hours of operations per year in the proposal, which is a four-fold increase from the estimated 90 hours of operations the airfield currently supports.
The Navy holds that increasing operations at Outlying Field is particularly important for fleet readiness because the airfield's runway closely replicates the landing conditions on an aircraft carrier.
Outlying Field resembles the conditions of a carrier operating at sea — it sits on a 200-foot ridge surrounded by flat terrain — making it an indispensable pilot training environment.
Last week, the Navy issued a final environmental impact statement on the proposal that affirms the desire to bring more squadrons and planes to Whidbey after receiving more than 4,300 public comments on a draft version of the statement released in June.
"This preferred alternative would provide the best, most realistic training for Navy pilots and take into consideration the noise impacts to all surrounding communities," the statement said.
The Navy is expected to make a final decision on expanding operations, with consideration for the Navy's force structure assessment and carrier landing practice needs, in the next month.
In 2013, Whidbey Island-based group Citizens of Ebey's Reserve sued the Navy for failing to comply with federal law by not studying the environmental impact extended Growler operations would have on the area. The organization said residents had been "significantly harmed" by an increase in flight operations at Naval Outlying Field Coupeville since the Navy began transitioning to the EA-18G Growler. The suit was dismissed.
With the latest call to increase flight operations, a coalition of environmental and community groups have joined together to form the Sound Defense Alliance "protect our communities and natural environment from harmful and increasing impacts of expanded military activity around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula," the organization said in a statement.
"Unbearable earth-shaking noise and pollution increases from the Growler Jets will put all things Washingtonians hold dear at risk - our health, safety, economy, land, air, water and wildlife across the San Juan Islands, Island County, Jefferson County, Skagit County, and the Olympic Peninsula," said Maryon Attwood, chair of the Sound Defense Alliance. "These include some of our most treasured protected public places that the Department of Defense is going to devastate."
By: Julianne Stanford
Source: Kitsap Sun