Missile testing program is wrong fit for JBLM

I recently submitted comments to the U.S. Army opposing moving the missile testing program (HIMARS) from the Yakima Firing Range to JBLM. I oppose moving the missile-launching program from the Yakima Firing Range to JBLM for these reasons:

1. The Yakima Firing Range is in a low-density population area, of shrub-scrub semi-desert terrain. The I-5 urbanized corridor has a population base many times more densely packed and is not appropriate for a missile-launching program.

2. Saving $200,000-500,000 per year (JBLM staff figure) in transportation expenses, in a military budget of several trillion dollars, is infinitesimal. This tiny guesstimated savings does not equate to the noise and pollution impacts on the many thousands of residents adjacent to JBLM in Western Washington.

3. It is entirely unacceptable to add 110 to 135 decibels from HIMARS missile-launching on the nearby neighborhoods, already overburdened by the increased late-night noise of helicopters and fixed-wing craft we've experienced over the past two-plus years.

4. Utilizing the relatively simple checklist review of the environmental assessment (EA) tool is inadequate. I strongly recommend utilizing the more in-depth environmental impact statement (EIS) process instead.

5. The original inhabitants of the land on which JBLM sits, the Nisqually Indian Tribe, will perversely bear the most impact from increased noise and pollution, on top of existing effects from howitzer and machine gun firing -- along with the newly increased noise of helicopters. Show some understanding of history.

Olympia

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 4:34 AM with the headline "Missile testing program is wrong fit for JBLM."