Slog Dec 15, 2014 2:57 PM

Navy Wants Permission for Electromagnetic War Games Over Olympic National Park

by Brendan Kiley

Comments

Hey can we get Millett's email/phone number?

Kepler on December 15, 2014 at 3:17 PM ·

Maybe 1200 feet would be acceptable, I dunno. But I've been at Deception Pass, at the north end of Whidbey, near Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, as pairs of Prowlers come roaring past a smidgen over treetop height, over and over for an hour. That is not something you want in a postage-stamp park like Deception, and certainly not in a revered wilderness like the Olympics.

Warren Terra on December 15, 2014 at 3:20 PM ·

If Dr. Pall is right, better be ready to dump that constantly broadcasting smartphone you've got on your person every waking hour.

Westside forever on December 15, 2014 at 3:25 PM ·

I'm willing to live with the risk that comes with an Air Force that didn't do war games practice in the Olympic National Park.

Former Lurker on December 15, 2014 at 3:26 PM ·

I'd rather not have the Navy playing any sort of war games in my National Parks, thank you. However that 2013 paper that you cite which Dr Pall cites is a renown nightmare of cherry-picked "statistics" roundly refuted in subsequent reviews. It also is the favorite paper of some locals who are profoundly phobic against Seattle City Light's planned roll-out of wireless metering.

There really ought to be a standard name for a phobia of radio frequency radiation; which has been shown time and time again to be of insufficient energy to affect even a weak biochemical bond, (as also studies about mutations in those who live below power-lines)

theophrastus on December 15, 2014 at 3:41 PM ·

If you wish to sign a petition against the proposed war games, there is one at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitio…

Concerned for the Community on December 15, 2014 at 3:48 PM ·

The Navy used to run Prowler (EA-6) training flights up Gold Creek and into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, back in the day and maybe they still do. I don't give a toss about radio waves (I'd probably pick up more radiation from the mobile phone in my pocket), but the noise was occasionally enough to trigger an avalanche if you were skiing up the valley.

Toe Tag on December 15, 2014 at 3:50 PM ·

what happens to the navy if there is "impact" or "significant impact"?

pansack on December 15, 2014 at 3:52 PM ·

"land of many uses".

this is NOT Oly Natl Park, it's Oly Natl Forest. and on the western peninsula, which is largely an uninhabited tree farm except for some parts abutting the park. how they'd fly north along the edge of the Park without crossing the rivers that extend octopus-like to the west (Bogachiel, Queets) I have no idea.

@7 is right. I've seen quite a few prowler fly-overs in the alpine lakes. it's not the worst thing ever, and it isn't new.

nearly every day though?

Max Solomon on December 15, 2014 at 4:31 PM ·

Your are months late on this story. Seriously

Sean Kinney on December 15, 2014 at 4:40 PM ·

@7 No way. While a war machine flying up Gold Creek should be cause for deploying a surface to air missile (Hayduke Lives!), the clap trap about noises triggering avalanches is complete horse puckey.

http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Assets/…

Randy Beaver on December 15, 2014 at 4:40 PM ·

Holy Christmas, its fine go argue the point "I don't want wargames conducted in my national park" but to give credence to such an unscientific paper is absurd.

caltrop_head on December 15, 2014 at 4:52 PM ·

Well, shucks, Brendan - You're a bit late to the party as far as this story is concerned. If anyone is interested the real info is to be found in Dahr Jamail's Nov. 10th story in Truth-out.org. There you will find links to the Forest Service proposal and the so called environmental assessment by the Navy. The public comment period is already over, with more than 2,000 people writing in to say nay to this totally absurd endeavor.

Mental on December 15, 2014 at 4:52 PM ·

Yo caltrop head, your ignorance of the sheer volume of studies linking electromagnetic and microwave radiation to adverse bioeffects is stunning. Between the 1940's and the 1970's alone the US military and the Russians did thousands of studies alone. And thousands of independent peer reviewed studies since then are there for the ignorant to peruse if you could but manage to pull your head out of your ass long enough.

Mental on December 15, 2014 at 5:05 PM ·

@14- citations or shut your pie hole. And make em good ones.

bobjoebob on December 15, 2014 at 6:36 PM ·

@#14
I have a reading assignment for you.

Also, Bob Park would like you to learn some physics, specifically the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.

I mean, seriously: this bunch of quackery never had any plausible proposed mechanism, and has been ruled dead since Clinton was President. There are possible issues of noise and pollution by uncombusted jet fuel, and I don't know what the electronic warfare gear might do to the cell phones of lost hikers, but its effect on your person will be nil.

Warren Terra on December 15, 2014 at 7:32 PM ·

I'm not a warmonger or a gun owner but my take on this program is to simulate the terrain in the countries that pose the biggest threat to the U.S.A. If that's the purpose then I am in favor of them doing this. I certainly value our priceless National Parks and use them regularly but National Defense is important also. Let 'em fly!

longwayhome on December 15, 2014 at 7:48 PM ·

Why can't they do this somewhere else, such as the Yuma Proving Ground, or Camp Pendleton? As far as I know, this has never been explained.

NineOneFour on December 15, 2014 at 8:19 PM ·

Wouldn't life expectancy be going down not up in electro-radiation rich countries if there was anything to that theory?

ejamadoodle on December 15, 2014 at 8:41 PM ·

Fuck off with your scare tactics about electromagnetic radiation. Noise pollution is the real story here.

paleo on December 15, 2014 at 11:00 PM ·

Look, obviously The Stranger is a month or two late with this story about the future of national parks and their use, but put yourself in their place: there was a sandwich shop closing, and they needs all hands on deck to write about a sandwich for a few weeks. I mean c'mon guys it was a pretty good sandwich.

Theodore Gorath on December 16, 2014 at 5:17 AM ·

ONP used to be the quietest place in the lower 48.

http://onesquareinch.org/about/

But fuck it, endless war trumps everything.

codswallower on December 16, 2014 at 9:46 AM ·

@22 you just summed up everything that's gone wrong at the Stranger in the last year.

Westside forever on December 16, 2014 at 10:53 AM ·

I concur that the EM radiation issue is overblown. Radio and microwave can affect biological systems, but it's only noticeable with a very strong signal. The wavelengths are too long for it to really disrupt much.
Fun fact: some people have blamed telecom signals for colony collapse disorder, despite the fact that bees navigate by the position of the sun, not by electromagnetic cues (the way some birds do).

venomlash on December 16, 2014 at 11:12 AM ·

cooool

Unregistered User on December 16, 2014 at 11:20 AM ·

Ya, that professor emeritus doesn't know what he's talking about, besides I'm in love with my cell phone too much to accept the science even if it were true.

Raylp on December 16, 2014 at 12:16 PM ·

Guys,

Take a look at my research. Our high power, high gain pulsed microwave radars are killing fish and triggering tumors in mammals, increased cancers in humans.

Darkmattersalot.com

ChemE on December 21, 2014 at 5:57 PM ·