source: Arizona Environmental Health Bulletin (AEHB)

The Forest Service has extended the deadline for public comments on the Electronic Warfare program until November 28, 2014. Anyone living or thinking of moving to the Pacific Northwest area should know about this project.

Brief summary of program
The Navy is proposing to turn a large part of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, as well as a portion of northeastern Washington, into Electronic Warfare training ranges. A giant antenna resembling a house-sized golf ball will be installed at the Naval Station at Moclips, just outside the Quinault Indian Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula.

According to the data provided in the Environmental Assessment, the Arizona Environmental Health Bulletin (AEHB) calculates that it will have an effective power of 5 million watts, capable of sending 64 simultaneous beams at frequencies of between 2 and 18 GHz. The golf ball will only be 40 feet off the ground. In addition, three mobile, truck-mounted antennas will be moved around between 15 different sites in the Olympic National Forest, and three more mobile antennas will operate from 8 different locations in the Okanagan and ColvilleNational Forests in northeastern Washington. They will each have a power of 100,000 watts, and will be in use 260 days a year, 8 to 16 hours a day.

The city of Forks will be directly in the line of fire, right between three of these locations and the Pacific Ocean. The locations in the Colville National Forest are next to the Colville Indian Reservation, about 70 miles northwest of Spokane, and one is only 3 miles from the city of Oroville. In addition, UHF transmitters will be added to an existing tower on Octopus Mountain in the Olympic Peninsula for communication with aircraft and ships.

Needless to say, the peace of the Olympic Peninsula will be destroyed forever. The radiation in both locations will impact predominantly Native Americans. Voice your concern today and help protect this vital environment and all living beings it supports. In addition to submitting a public comment, please sign this petition as well.

photo: US Navy 060519-N-2959L-004 Cryptologic technicians monitor electronic emissions in the Electronic Warfare module aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)