Court rules Navy failed to consider Growler jet noise damage

A federal judge ruled Aug. 2 that the U.S. Navy’s environmental review process for expanding Growler jet use on Whidbey Island illegally failed to analyze the noise impacts of low-flying jets on classroom learning and birds, did not properly consider the greenhouse gas impacts of Growler fuel use and did not adequately consider moving operations to El Centro, California, all violating the National Environmental Policy Act.

Judge Richard A. Jones supported without changes the NEPA challenge brought by the plaintiffs – the state of Washington and Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve (COER) and Paula Spina – endorsing Magistrate Richards Creatura’s Report and Recommendation from December 2021.

“Here, despite a gargantuan administrative record, covering nearly 200,000 pages of studies, reports, comments, and the like, the Navy selected methods of evaluating the data that supported its goal of increasing Growler operations,” Creatura wrote. “The Navy did this at the expense of the public and the environment, turning a blind eye to data that would not support this intended result. Or, to borrow the words of noted sports analyst Vin Scully, the Navy appears to have used certain statistics ‘much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination.’”

The training regimen for Growler jets requires frequent take-offs and landings, and the expansion increases Navy flight operations on Whidbey Island to more than 110,000 per year.

The state of Washington won its claims that the Navy failed to consider the impacts of the noisy jets on local classrooms, and on various bird species, including tufted puffins, which the state lists as endangered.

Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve won its claims that the Navy did not properly consider other locations for the Growler expansion, nor did it properly consider the greenhouse gas impacts of Growler fuel use.

Jones approved Creatura’s conclusions: “the Navy violated NEPA by failing to disclose the basis for greenhouse gas emissions calculations, failing to quantify the impact of increased operations on classroom learning, failing to take a hard look at species-specific impacts on birds, and failing to give detailed consideration to the El Centro, California, alternative.”

Jones’s final ruling provides that the plaintiffs are entitled to judgment in their favor.

All parties now have 30 days to either agree on a remedy or a briefing schedule on a remedy. The Navy will prepare a new Environmental Impact Statement.

In its press release COER wrote it has attempted since last winter “to engage the Navy in good-faith dialogue for interim relief and advanced two key proposals that it believes would benefit the community:

“1. Revert all Growler operations back to pre-Record of Decision (ROD) levels.

“2. Help residents avoid noise exposure by initiating real-time information on flying activity at the OLF and Ault Field.”

The Navy will not comment on pending litigation, Mike Welding. Whidbey Naval Air Station public affairs officer, wrote in an email and the U.S. Department of Justice did not return a phone call.

The suit was filed in United States District Court Western District of Washington.