joe a. kunzler 3 march 2017 prebuttal to washington board...

of 14

Joe A. Kunzler 3 March 2017 Prebuttal to Washington

Board of Health

Re: Investigation of Island County Board of Health

Figure 1: Aerial of OLF Coupeville & Vicinity Taken by Author

of 14

Dedication 1

To support my good friend, staunch ally, great redhead and all around “Beast 2

Mode” Island County Board Health Member Jill Johnson. Jill Johnson has a big heart 3

and at times has had to temper ME when I’ve wanted to go over-the-top and take 4

the fight to the COER beyond the point of reason. Jill Johnson is somebody you 5

want in an AMERICAN fight who has been underappreciated by the Legion of 6

Growl, a group of great patriots across (ridiculous) Blue-Red party lines defending 7

OLF Coupeville – sometimes at great peril. 8

Raison D’Etre for The Prebuttal 9

Being Washington Board of Health staff advised me the deadline to be part 10

of the meeting packet will come before an investigation report is made public, I feel 11

a need to submit some research ahead of time. I doubt very seriously you as health 12

professionals have any patience for OLFers (OLF Coupeville supporters) who just 13

want to pontificate eloquently a love of jet noise and support for our troops… So 14

I respect your intelligence, your education and your dedication to public service to submit 15

some ground truths that may not be heard otherwise...16

of 14

Contents Dedication ..................................................................................................................................................... 2

Raison D’Etre for The Prebuttal .................................................................................................................... 2

Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5

Why OLF? ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

Regarding Inspecting the Schools (WAC 246-366-040) ................................................................................ 7

Reviewing the Board of Health Tapes… ........................................................................................................ 8

Regarding the Washington Department of Health Report ........................................................................... 9

Potential Remedies ..................................................................................................................................... 11

Land Use Remedies ................................................................................................................................. 11

You Can’t Legislate People’s Choices ...................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 14

Table of Figures Figure 1: Aerial of OLF Coupeville & Vicinity Taken by Author ..................................................................... 1 Figure 2: EA-18G Growler Using OLF Coupeville- and please note the colorized IFLOLS carrier landing lights, Photo by Author ................................................................................................................................. 4 Figure 3: Citizens Choosing to Enjoy FCLP at OLF ......................................................................................... 6 Figure 4: Forget CenturyLink Field? ............................................................................................................ 10

of 14

Figure 2: EA-18G Growler Using OLF Coupeville- and please note the colorized IFLOLS carrier

landing lights, Photo by Author

.

JAK 3 March 2017 Prebuttal of Washington State Board of Health Investigation of Island County Board of Health

of 14

Introduction 1

Some introductory thoughts are in order. This prebuttal is intended to relay to the 2

Washington State Board of Health information that I feel you may or may not be in receipt of. I 3

respect greatly your patriotic duty to as per your website, “Provide a public forum for people 4

living in Washington for the development of public health policy in the state.” As the OLFer-in-5

Chief or the lead advocate for OLF Coupeville, it is my presumptive patriotic duty to make damn 6

sure we patriots don’t lose the OLF to the Citizens of the Ebey’s Reserve + Coupeville 7

Community Allies or hereafter for brevity COER-uber-allies. 8

Why OLF? 9

I doubt the Washington Board of Health has been made aware of OLF’s raison d’etre or 10

reason for existing. As such, I would like to submit into the record from the November 2016 11

voluminous Navy Draft Environmental Impact Statement or DEIS into EA-18G Airfield 12

Operations available on WhidbeyEIS.com from pages 1-7 thru 1-8. Before I paste this 13

information, a polite reminder this DEIS was requested by litigation COER-uber-allies waged 14

against the US Navy, litigation that only said the “required environmental review” and was very 15

nonspecific about the details. With that, here goes: 16

FCLP at OLF Coupeville provides a realistic training environment for both student 17

pilots and experienced pilots to prepare for landing on aircraft carriers. A series of day 18

and night FCLP must be performed by all pilots before landing the Growler on an aircraft 19

carrier for the first time, or, for experienced pilots, after a period of absence away from 20

the aircraft carrier environment. Training at OLF Coupeville allows pilots, as well as 21

Landing Signal Officers (LSOs), the opportunity to train in a closed pattern, or a pattern 22

without interference from other aircraft. LSOs are highly trained carrier pilots who 23

http://whidbeyeis.com/


of 14

instruct and critique aircrews’ landing performance from the flight deck. During FCLP, 1

LSOs are stationed next to the approach end of the runway and train and evaluate pilots 2

while providing an additional margin of safety during each landing. 3

Since OLF Coupeville is dedicated 4

primarily to FCLP (although it also supports 5

helicopter operations), pilots and LSOs can 6

maximize the number of practice landings 7

in a given timeframe while significantly 8

benefitting from the unique environment 9

OLF Coupeville provides. Using OLF 10

Coupeville allows the Navy to conclude daily operations in less time, thereby reducing 11

community impacts. When performing the field that differ from the prescribed FCLP 12

pattern and that extend flights beyond the normal pattern. Operations by non-FCLP 13

aircraft (e.g., Growlers not performing FCLP, P-3s, P-8s, EP-3s, MH-60s, C-40s, cargo and 14

passenger aircraft, and other transient aircraft) degrade FCLP due to aircraft separation 15

requirements, varying field lighting and topography requirements, and specific approach 16

requests. This degradation in training can occur for FCLP pilots as well as non-FCLP pilots, 17

who, in some cases, are precluded from practicing their own landings due to aircraft 18

limitations in the pattern. For example, aircraft may have take-offs, practice approaches, 19

or landings delayed or denied. An inability to accomplish required training due to pattern 20

congestion disrupts training schedules and increases operational costs to the Navy. 21

Performing FCLP at Ault Field can be more impactful to the community by extending flight 22

Figure 3: Citizens Choosing to Enjoy FCLP at OLF With Me


of 14

patterns, repeating training, extending daily operations later into the night, and impacting 1

more densely populated areas. 2

I hope you noticed how the ideal is to provide safe naval aviation training with minimal impact to 3

civilian populations. As the Navy explains in their Draft EIS on page 2-19, 4

Moreover, any potential reduction of noise impacts near OLF Coupeville could be offset 5

by an increase in noise at a new OLF, depending on where it would be sited relative to the 6

old OLF. In addition, it would migrate noise impacts to another community. Considering 7

that the population densities in the rural areas of the Pacific Northwest near NAS Whidbey 8

Island that would be suitable for an OLF are similar to those near OLF Coupeville, and 9

more often higher population densities, there is likely to be no net environmental gain 10

regarding noise impacts with any move from OLF Coupeville. … No commenter has 11

suggested what location would be suitable for an OLF that would provide for lessened 12

environmental impacts to the community. 13

As you can see, the Field Carrier Landing Practice field for NAS Whidbey Island has to be at the 14

current site. You as a State Board of Health have no say nor influence where the US Navy may 15

conduct its training, but maybe you have other options to reduce health impacts… 16

Regarding Inspecting the Schools (WAC 246-366-040) 17

I’ve reviewed the COER complaint regarding this WAC. COER alleges no inspection of 18

the schools was made, yet notes on lines 2-4 of page 16 an inspection was made that noted jet 19

noise. What a contradiction. 20

Furthermore, not once does COER-uber-allies request a school be closed or relocated. 21

Yet COER-uber-allies recommends that during Outlying Field (OLF) Coupeville Field Carrier 22

Landing Practice (FCLP) on line 13 of page 9 of their complaint that, a, “Park be closed when 23


of 14

Growlers are practicing overhead.” COER-uber-allies requests not a single school be condemned 1

by the Health Officer of Island County, but a county park be closed. What a contradiction – 2

close a park, but not a single school during Growler training operations COER-uber-allies alleges 3

are so harmful to public health as to constitute in their words, a “public health emergency”. 4

Reviewing the Board of Health Tapes… 5

It’s worth noting that Dr. Thomas, M.D. said back on 19 April 2017 that he found some 6

of the COER data, “anecdotal” with “soft studies” 1:15:00 into the YouTube “2016-04-19 Island 7

County Board of Health on Potential EA-18G Impacts” at https://youtu.be/VXeVYl-TBCs as the 8

current science is insufficient in testimony to the Island County Board of Health. “I’m not really 9

sure what our role is. I would love some guidance from you, our bosses how you want to pursue 10

this and I want to nudge you just a little bit to say maybe we truly need to make a statement one 11

way or the other just to acknowledge a huge community demand on us. … I think maybe we 12

owe it to our constituents to say something about our stance… on jet noise. Even if that is we 13

have nothing we can do about it. But I think we owe them a comment, that would be my vote, 14

I’m sort of hanging out there.” 15

Dr. Thomas, M.D. got that “comment” “to say something about our stance… on jet 16

noise” with Resolution C-16-HD. A resolution that stated very clearly, “Island County does not 17

have any notable trends in terms of health conditions, educational impacts, or mental health 18

conditions that are factually known to be caused by or exacerbated by known noise zones 19

compared to citizens living in areas of lesser to no noise exposure”. Furthermore, Resolution 20

C-16-HD stated as per Dr. Thomas’ own expert testimony to the Island County Board of Health 21

with Island County Board Healthmember Jill Johnson’s cross-examination; 22

https://youtu.be/VXeVYl-TBCs


of 14

WHEREAS, extensive research and studies have consistently shown that heredity, 1

overall lifestyle, choices including food intake, exercise and access to medical care 2

are known contributors to overall health effects much more than intermittent 3

contributors, such as aircraft noise; 4

. . . 5

WHEREAS, no citizen of Island County is required to live in a known noise zone 6

and expose oneself to jet noise or engage in any behavior that they believe to put 7

their health at risk thus making exposure a personal choice. 8

I mean what does the Washington State Board of Health want to do? Start writing land use 9

regulations. After all, there are major civilian and military airports that service military aircraft in 10

multiple counties in our state. 11

The problem is reviewing the RCWs for the Washington Board of Health and county-12

level Boards of Health as a layman (again I am not a lawyer) – I did not perceive any authority for 13

either the Washington Board of Health nor the Island County Board of Health to attempt to 14

police aviation noise. I respectfully remind you that I have not seen the preliminary investigation 15

into the Island County Board of Health. 16

Regarding the Washington Department of Health Report 17

I have given cursory review to the Washington Department of Health Report COER-18

uber-Allies has made available on one of their websites. I find the report to admit several times 19

“addition research is needed” or “more research is needed”. To me, that – pardon the 20

expression – amplifies a concern Island County Health Boardmember Jill Johnson had about taking 21

quantifiable action based on COER-uber-Allies public testimony. 22


of 14

The report makes no mention of the two preseason, eight regular season and up to two 1

additional postseason National Football League 2

(NFL) games at CenturyLink Field which has set 3

noise records of 136.6 and 137.6 decibels. Louder 4

than OLF 525 feet away which I’ve measured at 100 5

decibels. I mean listening to a Discovery Canada 6

YouTube at https://youtu.be/S5WaE8gWRQ8 7

CenturyLink Field noise gets to be like a jet… fifteen 8

feet away. Not hundreds of feet away in Field Carrier Landing Practice but fifteen feet away 9

starting up. Yet you are more concerned about our Navy training than telling our beloved Seattle 10

Seahawks to turn it down – like get rid of the metal bleachers? Toss the roofs? I await the Board 11

of Health investigation into CenturyLink Field… 12

Or perhaps I agree with Island County Health Officer Brad Thomas, MD who explained 13

on the YouTube, “2016-05-17 Island County Board of Health RE: EA-18G Noise” at 14

https://youtu.be/k27U0Qks1AE 56 minutes into the clip, that “long term exposure” to high noise 15

like CenturyLink Field (formerly Quest Field) and OLF is a “risk factor” for disease, not a disease 16

in of itself. At least I know I am taking a conscious choice with my aviation photography at OLF 17

to accept a higher risk factor to at the least my hearing and use high quality noise protection. 18

Finally, I mention this because as per a 28 February 2017 op-ed published on the Whidbey 19

News-Times website with a title of, “Recognize, reject ‘lawfare’ tactics, all its falsehoods” at 20

https://goo.gl/z1oHiK that, “The recent state Department of Health, “Association Between Noise 21

and Health” report is a lawfare success. Using prodigious, extraneous footnoting, it takes long 22

leaps, while linking “similar noise” and “paucity of research” directly to Naval Air Station Whidbey 23

Figure 4: Forget CenturyLink Field? (Photo author’s)

https://youtu.be/S5WaE8gWRQ8

https://youtu.be/k27U0Qks1AE

https://goo.gl/z1oHiK


of 14

Island. “Seahawks” or “loud rock music” could be easily substituted for NAS Whidbey, with more 1

substantiated applicability.” Later on in the op-ed from a former naval aviator, “We should 2

instead focus upon the reason for more Growlers. It protects our armed forces in superlative 3

fashion. It and the Prowler have a perfect record of protecting aircraft in combat. Also, its aircrew 4

expertise has saved many, many lives of ground forces. Growlers are in the highest possible 5

demand due to this protection. For this peerless 6

capability, Growlers deserve our praise, support 7

and thanks.” Indeed, and I ask the Washington 8

State Board of Health err on the side of Growlers 9

being, “in the highest possible demand” as 10

Growlers have “saved many, many lives of ground 11

forces” especially considering the tens of 12

thousands of Army soldiers based at Joint Base 13

Lewis-McChord in our state depending on Growler protection. Just pointing a little fact out… 14

Potential Remedies 15

Now I feel I must suggest something if you accept the Washington Department of Health 16

report on, “A Summary of the Association Between Noise and Health” and accept the COER-17

uber-Allies allegation the Island County Board of Health needs to act; then I need to suggest 18

remedies before you in my prebuttal. Again, please remember I have not seen the preliminary 19

investigation into the Island County Board of Health. 20

Land Use Remedies 21

Notice COER did not request a single land use reform – yet signs are bordering on 22

insufficient to deal with noise impacts. I submit to you therefore that as a layman citizen who is 23

Figure 5: Joint Base Lewis-McChord Soldiers Jumping Out of H-47 Chinook, Photo the Author’s


of 14

not a lawyer that if you are going to take action – and I hope you do not, but if you feel it is within 1

the Board of Health’s responsibility – you look at land use solutions. Neither the Washington 2

State Board of Health nor the Island County Board of Health have jurisdiction over US Naval 3

Aviation. However, several Island County Board of Health members have jurisdiction over land 4

use – maybe realizing per my layman’s review of RCW 43.20.050 is with my emphasis, “(1) The 5

state board of health shall provide a forum for the development of public health policy in 6

Washington state. It is authorized to recommend to the secretary means for obtaining 7

appropriate citizen and professional involvement in all public health policy formulation and other 8

matters related to the powers and duties of the department. It is further empowered to hold 9

hearings and explore ways to improve the health status of the citizenry.” 10

Maybe if COER-uber-Allies is so gung-ho to close a park, then why take flight with their 11

logic and close with immediate effect all schools directly impacted by Growler flight operations 12

as well? No, seriously as COER-uber-Allies is so concerned about the schools and proper 13

inspections? If your lawyers say somehow, someway – which I doubt – you have the legal 14

authority to close schools to reduce a risk factor for disease; then you should also yank out the 15

soda machines and make sure schools have the proper recess time for physical activity. 16

When done, then let’s just instruct Island County’s Health Officer to demand a full 17

cessation of building permits within 2 nautical miles of Outlying Field Coupeville. I mean if we’re 18

going to close parks, and then schools, then why allow anybody to build anywhere near the alleged 19

public health emergency? I mean the State Department of Health’s own report said, “Noise levels 20

similar to those reported from NAS Whidbey Island Complex described in all recent reports 21

pose a threat to public health.” Perhaps Boards of Health are governed by laws, that’s why we 22

do not see these kind of actions or overreactions. 23


of 14

However, it is my understanding from multiple sources in 2018 a new compatible uses 1

study between the Navy and Island County Government called an AICUZ or Air Installations 2

Compatible Use Zone will occur. I hope you give some strong admonitions to the Island County 3

Board of Health to take all available action at that time… “to hold hearings and explore ways to 4

improve the health status of the citizenry” considering this “risk factor” to human health. 5

Furthermore, considering the inability of Island County Government to police the US Federal 6

Government’s naval aviation activities… land use solutions providing for “prevention” seems best. 7

But “You Can’t Legislate People’s Choices” 8

I also want to point out that 17 May 2016 Board of Health Meeting is that Island County 9

Board of Health Member Jill Johnson (Republican) said as per the YouTube, “2016-05-17 Island 10

County Board of Health RE: EA-18G Noise” at https://youtu.be/k27U0Qks1AE, 1:03:49, “Do we 11

have any concerns about obesity and diabetes in our population?” Dr. Thomas replied back that 12

the Island County Health Department does what they can to promote exercise and healthy 13

choices. Boardmember Jill Johnson shot back 1:04:10 into the YouTube, “Have we taken any 14

steps as a Board of Health to ban sodas? Fast food? Pass a resolution that requires exercise.” 15

Dr. Thomas replied, “You can’t legislate people’s choices.” 16

One last thing, as I review the same YouTube, “2016-05-17 Island County Board of Health 17

RE: EA-18G Noise” at https://youtu.be/k27U0Qks1AE, this time back at 50:03, Island County 18

Board of Health Member Helen Price-Johnson (Democratic) said, “I have read my powers and 19

duties” and “very little I will tell you” a Board of Health can do. 20

Even though Boardmember Helen Price-Johnson voted against the historic Resolution C-21

16-HD resolution, the resolution clearly states, “WHEREAS, no citizen of Island County is 22

required to live in a known noise zone and expose oneself to jet noise or engage in any behavior 23




of 14

that they believe to put their health at risk thus making exposure a personal choice.” If you want 1

to correct this bipartisan view of an inability of a county board of health to act on aircraft noise 2

impacts upon a community, now’s the time. Please do so with grace and intelligence as I have 3

great respect for both Health Boardmembers. Thanks. 4

Conclusion 5

In this prebuttal, I’ve attempted to defend the logic of Resolution C-16-HD. I’ve 6

attempted to expose the logical fallacies of COER’s complaint. I’ve attempted to be historical 7

without being histrionic. I’ve attempted to give you some options. But in the final analysis, please 8

remember I am writing this without seeing the investigation report and I am certainly not a lawyer. 9

I would add that I am saying to you that, US Attorney Rachel K. Roberts was right when 10

she said on 15 July 2015 in oral argument defending OLF against a COER-uber-allies injunction 11

attempt to cease OLF flight ops, and I quote from my notes, “Plaintiffs have shown declarations 12

of harm, but a lot of that is speculation” as plaintiffs’ [COER-uber-allies] experts did not actually 13

examine but only read submitted reports. Furthermore, quoting the victorious US Attorney, 14

“It’s unclear why they [COER-uber-allies] waited if their harms are so harmful. … The Navy has 15

not had an opportunity to examine the declarants. … This is an area that has been zoned for 16

high noise since 1992. Many of these declarants moved to that area after it was zoned for high 17

noise.” May want to note COER-uber-allies has been protesting since the last trimester of 2012 18

about OLF and is only now asking for State Board of Health intervention in March of 2017. 19

Without any independent examination of COER-uber-allies members. 20

Again, I ask you please make a final decision based on the law, then data and not lawfare 21

or emotional inputs. Thank you. 22

joe a. kunzler 3 march 2017 prebuttal to washington board...

Documents