Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is forcing a review of the environmental impact statement for the Navy’s expansion of Growler flights on Whidbey Island’s outlying airfield. The need for this review is because the Navy did not follow the law during the EIS process.
State Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, accuses anyone who questions that expansion of trying to force the closure of the Navy base (“Bob Ferguson’s war a threat to Whidbey’s Navy base,” The Herald, July 21). It couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Navy is a welcome and valued neighbor. Valued neighbors respect each other and take responsibility for their impact on each other. Which is what an effective EIS process represents.
Bailey exaggerates by asserting that the attorney general is trying to close all the military bases in the state; and she lists them as “Fairchild in Spokane, Fort Lewis-McChord, Naval Station Everett, or any of the other bases in our state.” She is equating a review of the EIS Growler expansion, to closing down all the military bases. This is simply not true.
Bailey spewed falsehoods rather than working with all neighbors for a solution. I wonder why she is our state senator if she can’t speak truthfully when we have an issue like this?
Gerald “Jerry” Hill
Freeland
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