Public comment open: Northwest Training and Testing EIS/OEIS

• Comment deadline: Comments must be postmarked by Nov. 2.

• Submit comments to: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest

Attention: Ms. Kimberly Kler – NWTT EIS/OEIS Project Manager, 1101 Tautog Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101

• Review/download final EIS/OEIS at: nwtteis.com

The Olympic Military Operations Areas (Olympic MOA) spanning across portions of the Olympic Peninsula and extending off the coastline into the Pacific Ocean are among the areas analyzed in the final environmental impact statements recently released by Navy officials.

The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS) evaluates the Navy’s current, emerging and future activities within its Northwest Training and Testing Study Areas and is needed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.

Examples of the proposed training and testing include “Bombing Exercise” where fixed-wing aircrews deliver bombs against surface targets, “Air Combat Maneuver” where aircrews engage in flight maneuvers designed to gain a tactical advantage during combat and “Electronic Warfare Operations” where aircraft, surface ship and submarine crews attempt to deny the enemy the ability to control the electromagnetic spectrum, according to the final EIS/OEIS.

To study such activities, the EIS/OEIS explores three different training and testing scenarios, the potential environmental impacts of each scenario and includes the responses to about 2,000 public comments received on the draft and draft supplement, according to Navy officials.

The release of the final EIS/OEIS spurred members of the West Coast Action Alliance (a Washington-based network concerned with the Navy’s ongoing and proposed activities) and the Olympic Forest Coalition (a Quilcene-based nonprofit centered on protection, conservation and restoration of forest and aquatic ecosystems) to jointly write a memorandum expressing “extreme” concern.

The memorandum, dated Oct. 13, was sent to Navy officials in Washington, D.C., and locally, selected federal and state legislators and county commissions in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, as well as local city councils, organizations and individuals. It provides the reasoning as to why the those associated with the alliance and coalition dub the final EIS/OEIS as “unlawful” and “fatally flawed,” according to an e-mail circulated by the West Coast Action Alliance.

Among the concerns highlighted in the memorandum, it accuses the final EIS/OEIS of “failure to adequately consider impacts to Olympic National Park’s World Heritage designation.”

To read the West Coast Action Alliance and Olympic Forest Coalition co-written memorandum and for more information, visit westcoastactionalliance.org.

The final EIS/OEIS is undergoing a 30-day public comment period. Comments must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 2, to be accepted.