WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — Some
people complain about the "sound of freedom" that Navy jets make during
practice flights near the air station here. Windows rattle, kids shove
fingers in their ears and some people can't get to sleep.
Most live with it.
Anabelle
and Lee Mitchell, however, have had enough. For them it goes beyond the
nuisance of noise. They say it's costing them their livelihood.
In
May, the couple harvested two acres of their 25-acre tree farm because
of wind damage to the tops of 75-year-old Douglas fir trees. The
Mitchells say the damage was caused by low-flying Navy Growler jets from
Whidbey's electronic attack squadrons during touch-and-go practices.
A forest expert says the Mitchell's claim is credible.
Navy officials disagree that the jets are harming any trees.
"We
are not tree experts, but our flight patterns are well established and
there are numerous trees beneath those flight patterns that show no
signs of damage," said Kimberly Martin, the public affairs officer at
Whidbey Naval Air Station. "And that's not only in the area where the
Mitchells live, but under the rest of the flight patterns, including the
glide slope on approach to the runway."
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