Oak Harbor mayor: Group working with AG aims to shut down NAS Whidbey

According to the mayor of Oak Harbor and a former Naval commander stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey, Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit against the U.S. Navy over noise from expanding the EA-18G Growler program is a step in the direction of a local fringe group’s goal to get NAS Whidbey shut down.

Mayor Bob Severns and Commander Scott Smith told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson that the activist group Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, which states on its website that its goal is to remove the Growler training flights, evolved from a group that existed three decades ago called Whidbey Island for a Sound Environment.

“In 1991, that same group was able to get this base on the closure list, and due to a minor miracle, [the base] got off that list,” Smith said. “They’re doing the same tactics — they’re using willing politicians to effectively put the base at risk.”

According to information Smith has obtained through public records requests, the governor held a closed-door meeting with COER.

Dori | Ferguson suing Navy over NAS Whidbey jet noise just grandstanding

He believes that Ferguson wants to fulfill COER’s wish to get rid of the Growlers; this, he said, would make the Navy unable to train — which could eventually end base operations.

He explained that 30,000 local jobs — including cooks, construction workers, and mechanics — would be at risk if the base were to ever shut down.

“It would be devastating to the local economy,” he said. “In fact, the state stated that 88 percent of the county economy is driven by the base. It would devastate Island County.”

Additionally, because of its elevation and low light, Whidbey Island serves as a unique opportunity for Naval Growler pilots to practice landing on aircraft carriers.

“It’s critical for them so that when they get on the bobbing deck of a carrier, they’re ready to go,” Smith said. “You take that away, there really are no other locations to do that.”

NAS Whidbey was established in September 1942, nine months after the U.S. entered World War II, as a strategic base for the defense of Puget Sound. According to the Navy, it is the “premier naval aviation installation in the Pacific Northwest.”

In a press release, Ferguson’s office stated that if the Navy plans to increase Growler operations to almost 100,000 take-offs and landings per year, public health and wildlife could be harmed by the loud noise.

“The Navy has an important job, and it’s critical that their pilots and crews have the opportunity to train,” Ferguson said. “That does not relieve the federal government of its obligation to follow the law and avoid unnecessary harm to our health and natural resources.”

Severns believes that the Growler lawsuit is all part of Ferguson’s political agenda.

When Severn wrote to the attorney general in the wake of the lawsuit, he was shocked by the response he received.

“He responded by saying I need to listen to my constituents,” Severn said with incredulity. “I know what my constituents want and I know the majority. He’s the one who is mistaken about this fringe group — it is so small in numbers.”

Smith called it “unprecedented” for a state to sue its own naval base.

“I can’t believe a state would actually take that type of action, and not get the other side of the story before they launch with a lawsuit,” Smith said.

The servicemen and servicewomen at NAS Whidbey are an integral part of Whidbey Island, according to the mayor.

“They’re our friends, they’re our partners — these Navy folk are just entrenched in our community,” Severns said. “They make our schools better, they make our clubs better.”

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