In response to a North Coast News report last week on the Navy’s plan to build a fixed emitter communications tower and base mobile emitter vehicles at Pacific Beach for use in the Olympic National Forest as part of its Electronic Warfare (EW) Range, the Navy issued follow-up answers to questions about the impacts to the North Beach community and environment.
Concerning the specific economic impacts to the area, the Navy is planning to increase personnel at Naval Station Everett Annex Pacific Beach, said Liane Nakahara, public affairs specialist for Navy Region Northwest.
“They will most likely be contract personnel and we are looking at about eight positions that would be filled,” she said. The fixed emitter tower construction is anticipated to start in December, with the installation of the emitter on the tower expected to be completed by next August.
The construction of the tower and the installation of the fixed emitter is estimated to cost about $750,000. The Navy will be contracting this work, Nakahara said.
The Navy also has been concerned there are “a few misconceptions that seem to be circulating about the Navy’s planned Electronic Warfare Range,” Nakahara noted.
“This type of instrumented electronic warfare training is already conducted by NAS Whidbey Island aviators in a simulated manner,” Nakahara said.
The Navy intends to use electronic emitters to improve and support aircrew training for aviators from electronic warfare squadrons based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island training in the Northwest Training Range Complex. The Navy plans to use a fixed electronic emitter on Navy property at Pacific Beach and as many as three mobile emitter vans, that will set up occasionally in remote, unpopulated U.S. Forest Service lands.
“Squadrons already practice flying in the airspace over the lands where the emitters would be placed, as was analyzed in prior Northwest Training Range Complex environmental planning. Adding this equipment to the periodic training will provide a more realistic training environment allowing to identify and detect the kind of electronic threats they can expect to encounter when they fly into hostile territory. It also enables them to gain required aircrew qualifications before deployments,” Nakahara replied in an email.
The emitters, she said, put out directional electronic signals that will be pointed skyward toward the Pacific Ocean.
“Set up in this direction, the mobile emitters pose no threat to people or animals below the emitters on the ground. Risk to animals or humans would only occur if they put themselves in the direct path of the signal, above the emitter, and within 100 feet of the emitter beam for an extended period of time. As an added measure of safety, the Navy has mandated that crews shut down the emitters if people or animals are within the 100-foot safety zone around these vans when the systems are sending out the skyward signal,” Nakahara said.
Electromagnetic radiation, she noted, “is not the same thing as nuclear radiation. There is no nuclear radiation associated with these electronic emissions. In this case, ‘radiation’ is simply electronic energy, and the emitters use frequencies similar to those used for satellite communications, some Wi-Fi devices, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices and weather radar systems.”
Training will not involve the use of any weapons, Nakahara added. The Navy prepared an Environmental Assessment that was completed in August and issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact.”
Ongoing process
Although the Navy Record of Decision has been finalized, the U.S. Forest Service is still evaluating the Navy’s request for a special use permit on aspects of the project that take place on Forest Service land.
Those who wish to comment on the Forest Service’s potential issuance of a permit should contact Greg Wahl, forest environmental coordinator, Olympic National Forest, 1835 Black Lake Blvd. SW, Olympia, WA 98512, email gtwahl@fs.fed.us, phone: (360) 956-2375.
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