Editor,

There’s lots of blame going around — OLF supporters blaming “whiners” and home owners in the flight path blaming themselves.

Is the Noise Disclosure Statement that buyers sign a disclosure or really a disguise?

Here is what it says:

“The Property is located within Noise Zone 2 or 3 impacted area. Persons on the premises may be exposed to a significant noise level as a result of airport operations.

“Island County has placed certain restrictions on construction of property within airport noise zones.

“Before purchasing or leasing the property, you should consult the Island County Noise Level Reduction Ordinance to determine the restrictions which have been placed on the property, if any.”

So, “airport operation” instead of any reference to Navy jets. Reference to a 55-page ordinance where you would find a completely outdated Noise Map listing four noise zones: 60-65, 65-70, 70-75, and 75+.

My house is in the 75+ decibel zone; it was just measured at 134.

It would be hard to actually verbalize a real warning. But it should say:

Navy jets are spectacularly loud, flown low by pilots practicing touch-and- go landings 9,670 times yearly. With 130 more jets coming and Saturday flights being considered, you’ll never have a real home.

You’ll know they are going to seriously affect your mental and physical health the first time you are home and they fly every 90 seconds, hour after hour.

And, you likely live in a crash zone.

On Whidbey, “whiners” are gleefully blamed for their own stupidity, called unpatriotic, and told to move back to where they came from.

The Island County Commissioners have signed a resolution supporting OLF, put the economy of the island first, and have taken no responsibility for their own misrepresentation.

Buyers find themselves living in a crash zone, adding fear to their suffering.

They’ll be stunned to realize that, while the county requires noise disclosure, it breaks that law by grossly misrepresenting the noise.

When homeowners sell, they face the moral challenge of warning the next buyer themselves, because the disclosure doesn’t do it.

The disclosure seems to have been prepared by county lawyers to protect the county, to look like they are protecting buyers, without actually protecting anyone.

It is used in real estate and escrow offices to satisfy the requirement to warn.

And so the pain caused by the misrepresentation will be passed on to buyer after buyer until the county fixes it.

Pat Smith

Coupeville