OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced a lawsuit against the Navy over its expansion of Growler jet operations on Whidbey Island.
“The Navy violated multiple federal laws by not doing enough to analyze the impact that Growler expansion will have on human health, the environment, and historical resources,” said Ferguson at a Tuesday press conference.
He concedes that the Navy has an important job and needs to train its pilots, but that doesn’t lessen its obligation to follow the law.
Alix Roos tells KOMO that her family settled on Whidbey Island in 1895 and they used to live in harmony with the Navy.
“Once the Growlers came, year after year it just got worse and worse and worse and we finally couldn’t live there anymore. My daughter couldn’t go outside to play,” she says.
The Navy wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit but released a statement saying it “believes that the Final Environmental Impact Statement is thorough and comprehensive, and addresses all of the comments received” leading up to the expansion.