Editor,

The Navy’s plan to dramatically increase Growler flight operations will significantly affect people, businesses and the environment in our region. Coupeville Community Allies (CCA) is a group of Central Whidbey residents who are committed to providing accurate information to our community regarding the Growler increase and draft environmental impact statement for this action.

Coupeville and the Central Whidbey community will be especially affected by the field carrier landing practice (FCLP) operations at OLF Coupeville, which are projected to increase as much as six-fold. That’s an average of 135 FCLP operations per day, five days per week, every week of the year.

CCA and others have spent many hours analyzing the 1500-page impact statement. There are many concerns raised by the document, such as questionable conclusions, and issues that are not addressed adequately or not at all. We encourage every person, business and organization in the region that may be affected by the increase in Growler flights to submit comments relating to the impact statement.

Comments are due by Feb. 24, 2017. If you want to comment on the final impact statement, you must have commented on the draft document. You may make comments online at www.whidbeyeis.com/Comment.aspx, or by mail to: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508, Attn: Code EV21/SS.

Learn more by going to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/whidbeyeis. To receive updates email us at coupevillecommunityallies@gmail.com.

KELLY KEILWITZ, LINDA BARTLETT, DAVID DAY, FRAN EINTERZ, ANNE HARVEY, CHRIS HURLEY, JAN PICKARD, VALERIE REUTHER, LORI TAYLOR and CONSTANCE WOLFE

Coupeville Community Allies