OFCO, WCAA and Seattle Mayor Comment on Navy Draft DEIS/OEIS for Increased Training in the Olympic Peninsula and Marine Waters

The Navy’s plans for increasing Northwest Training and Testing in the Olympic Military Operations Areas will impact endangered species—marine mammals including orcas, and terrestrial habitats of Marbled Murrelets and Northern Spotted Owls. The Navy’s comment period for their Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS (Overseas Environmental Impact Statement) closed June 12.

OFCO commented, as well as the West Coast Action Alliance (WCAA), as did Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. The Navy must seek a permit for its activities every five years, disclosing environmental impacts and mitigating them. The Navy’s 1,800-page Draft SEIS/OEIS has new information from its Final EIS in 2015, but still is inadequate.

OFCO asks that the Navy revise the EIS with adequate attention to analysis of impacts, mitigation and reasonable alternatives. OFCO allies Olympic Park Associates and National Parks Conservation Association also commented.