There is no conclusive evidence that aircraft noise causes health problems, a long-awaited, federally mandated study concludes.
The draft Environmental Impact Statement for EA-18G Growlers at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, which was released this week, looks at a range of potential environmental effects associated with the addition of 35 or 36 Growlers at the base, which will result in a 47 percent increase in Growler operations on Whidbey Island.
The draft Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, offers three alternatives for how aircraft carrier landing practices will be distributed between the large Ault Field base and the small, rural Outlying Field Coupeville.
The Navy is encouraging citizens to comment on the 716-page draft EIS. The length of the public comment period was extended to 75 days and a series of public meetings are scheduled because of high public interest in the issue.
THE DRAFT report addresses everything from archaeology and air pollution to social justice and spotted owls. The jet noise issue, however, was the focus of controversy for years on Whidbey Island and will likely be the focus of comments.
The EIS contradicts claims members of an anti-jet-noise group and others in the community have made about health impacts of jet noise, how loud the aircraft is and what is the best way to measure the noise.
The EIS states that the link between jet noise and health problems is weak.
“Despite some sensational articles purporting otherwise, and the intuitive feeling that noise in some way must impair health,” the EIS states, “there are no studies that definitively show a causal and significant relationship between aircraft noise and health.”
The alleged link between jet noise and health sparked debate recently when the anti-noise group, Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, or COER, presented the Island County Board of Health with studies, opinions from medical experts and anecdotal stories they felt prove the noise is hazardous; they asked the board to address the issue from a public health standpoint. The board members, however, passed a resolution in a 3-2 vote, saying that the evidence was inconclusive and they were not going to take action.
COER IS not backing down from its claims.
COER member Ken Pickard said the group will submit in the EIS process evidence of the hazards of the noise as well as a new noise study from a national expert. He feels a noise metric the Navy relies on doesn’t reflect reality since it averages sound over time and is based on models.
“The numbers don’t mean anything,” he said. “It’s all a charade. It’s all voodoo.”
Still, the EIS acknowledges that jet noise may have some negative effects beyond community annoyance — a category of impact which is actually studied in depth.
A high background noise environment may affect children’s learning and cognitive abilities, especially children in areas with average sound levels of 65 decibels and above; the EIS states more study is necessary for conclusive evidence. As many as 3,380 children on Whidbey will live in the 65-decibel or high zone with the increase in Growlers.
At least two studies suggested a link between aircraft noise and children’s reading comprehension.
“The effects may be small,” the EIS states, “but may be of particular concern for children who are already scholastically challenged.”
The number of interruptions at Oak Harbor High School and Crescent Harbor Elementary from jet noise would also increase. Oak Harbor High School currently experiences an average of five “events” a day when windows are open, the study states.
THE POTENTIAL for any hearing loss cause by Growlers is slim to nonexistent, the EIS found, though a preliminary study of the effect of single-event, high-noise exposure suggest the possibility of permanent hearing loss.
Aircraft noise does affect real estate values, the EIS concludes. The average effect is 0.5 percent per decibel, the study states.
The EIS’s warning of a “a significant impact of the noise environment” on Whidbey reflects the reality that more people will hear noise more often, according to Lisa Padgett, project manager for the EIS. The increase in aircraft operations means the average decibel level will increase in areas near runways and up to 2,500 more people will be living within the 65-decibel contour of the noise map in the future.
Padgett said the subjectivity of people’s perception of noise makes it a challenging, as well as controversial, thing to study.
“Some people think about it as the sound of freedom,” she said, “and some people think about it as a health impact.”
COER filed a lawsuit against the Navy in 2013 to force it to complete a full EIS on the Growlers, which were replacing the EA-6A Prowlers. The matter was resolved when the Navy announced it was conducting the EIS because of the planned increase in the number of Growlers at NAS Whidbey.
THE NAVY used computer models to create noise contours on the noise map based on measurements of the sound from Growler aircraft in different real-life scenarios, Padgett said. The decibels are reported as “day/night average sound levels.”
Pickard argues that the computer models underplay the actual noise. In addition, he said, averaging the noise level presents artificially low numbers since times of silence reduces the number. He said he experiences 120 dBs at his home, but the Navy has him in a 60-decibel contour on the noise map.
Padgett, however, said the metrics the Navy used to create the noise contours is the method accepted by the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. The averaging takes into account how often the noise occurs, as well as the level, which are both important in analyzing the human impact, she said.
Ted Brown, Fleet Forces public affairs officer, points out that EIS also looked at other metrics for measuring noise levels, including maximum noise levels and average levels for “points of interest” suggested by the public.
The maximum noise level, for example, is 114 decibels on Admirals Drive near OLF Coupeville. The number of times that occurs a year is currently about 267, but it could go as high as 2,540 in the future, the EIS states.
But the change isn’t unprecedented.
Brown said the number of touch-and-go operations at OLF Coupeville will actually go back to the level that existed in the 1990s. The data also shows the noise level from Growlers is either the same or less than Prowlers, depending on the situation; many people in the community claim the new aircraft is much louder, which was one of the arguments for requiring the EIS.
NAS Whidbey is more important than ever to national security, Brown said. The electronic warfare performed by Growlers is vital to other aircraft and troops.
“They lead the way and allow other aircraft to do their mission,” he said.
THE DEPARTMENT of Defense is studying a couple of possible technological solutions to Growler noise, Brown said, but the EIS isn’t able to take those into account. One is software to help pilots make the difficult aircraft carrier landings. The other is a “chevron” to quiet the engine.
The draft EIS breaks up the potential impacts into different scenarios and sub-scenarios, including a no-action alternative.
It presents three alternatives for the number of Growlers dedicated to fleet squadrons as opposed to expeditionary squadrons. A greater number of the aircraft in fleet squadrons — which are aircraft-carrier based — means more carrier landing practice, while expeditionary squadrons don’t need to practice the operation, Brown explained.
The study also looks at the distribution of touch-and-go landing practice between the Ault Field Base and OLF Coupeville. Specifically, it considers 80 percent at Ault Field and 20 percent at OLF; 50 percent at each; and 20 percent at Ault Field and 80 percent at OLF.
Last year, landing practice at OLF Coupeville amounted to 91 hours, Padgett said. Under the 80-percent scenario for OLF Coupeville, that could increase to more than 400 hours annually.
The report states that Navy leaders would prefer to use OLF Coupeville for all aircraft carrier landing practice because it “more closely replicates the pattern and conditions at sea and therefore provides superior training.” But the Navy is also mindful of the “unavoidable adverse effect” the noise has on the community, though operations at Ault Field would affect more people.
WHILE THE data on noise will certainly get the greatest scrutiny, the study also points to a different kind of impact on Whidbey. The EIS indicates that Accident Potential Zones, or APZs, should be drawn around OLF Coupeville. The Navy creates these zones around runways because that’s where aircraft crashes are the most likely to occur.
The Navy’s policy is to put APZs at runways in which there are 5,000 or more operations in one direction a year. Padgett said OLF Coupeville used to have APZs, but they went away when operations decrease. Now they’ll be back.
The Navy sets the APZs, but it’s up to local government to make any land-use decisions in the area. The City of Oak Harbor and Island County have land-use restriction in APZ zones around the Ault Field base, with the goal of preventing large congregations of people in those areas.
After the public comment period, the Navy will create a final EIS, taking public input into account. It will be up to the Secretary of the Navy to decide which of the alternatives to implement, Brown said.
THE NAVY is asking for comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for EA-18G Growler airfield operations atNaval Air Station Whidbey Island.
The draft EIS is available for review online at www.whidbeyeis.com. Hard copies are at area libraries.
The 75-day comment period concludes Jan. 25.
An Oak Harbor meeting on the EIS is 4-7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the Elks Lodge. A meeting in Coupeville is 4-7 p.m., Friday,Dec. 9 at the Coupeville High School Commons.
People will be able to ask questions and submit comments. In addition, comments can be submitted at the project website ormailed to EA-18G EIS Project Manager, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic: Code EV21/SS, 6506 Hampton Blvd.,Norfolk, VA, 23508.
The Draft EIS evaluates potential environmental effects from adding up to 36 Growler jets and an increase of Growler landingpractices at Ault Field on North Whidbey and Outlying Field Coupeville. The Draft EIS includes three alternatives, all of whichentail an addition of either 35 or 36 additional aircraft at NAS Whidbey.
The Draft EIS also analyzes three different options for the distribution of field carrier landing practices between Ault Field andOLF Coupeville.
An EA-18G Growler practices touch-and-go landings at Outlying Field Coupeville.
File photo Michael Monson, who was then president of Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, speaks with Capt. Michael Nortier, then-commanding officer of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, during a 2013 scoping meeting on the Growler Environmental Impact Statement.
