Navy's impact statement raises serious questions

The Navy has replaced all of the F-14 Tomcats with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets — including all of those that fly at Naval Air Station Key West.

According to the Navy, the Super Hornet is as much as 27 decibels louder than the Tomcat.

A 10-decibel increase is twice as loud. Twenty decibels is four times as loud.

The NAS Key West 2007 Air Installation Compatible Use Zones (AICUZ) update states that there were 12,648 Tomcat "operations" in 2001, and projected 15,953 Super Hornet operations for 2007.

In 2003, the Navy published an Environmental Assessment (EA) and a subsequent Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) that they claim indicates that there would be no impacts by replacing the Tomcats with the Super Hornets.

How is it possible for a much louder airplane flying more operations to have no impact?

The Navy has a right to expect that development will not encroach on their operations, but they also have a reciprocal obligation not to encroach on the surrounding community. There are good, patriotic, military supporters who bought homes outside of the published noise zones for NAS Key West who now find themselves effectively inside of the zones because of the much greater noise levels.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been asked to determine if there is fraud in connection with the AICUZ issue at Naval Air Station Key West — most particularly in relation to the EA and the FONSI.

The "FONSI" letter alone is stunning. ...

It bears emphasizing — the five-page letter that supposedly proves that the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will have no significant impact on the communities around NAS Key West discusses dredging and support facilities, but does not mention the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet!

That's like claiming that the receipt from your electric bill proves that you've paid your water bill.

It's nonsense, and it may be illegal by itself.

The GAO is the most independent (thank goodness) watchdog agency in the federal government. They have done terrific work to expose fraud, waste and abuse, and can be trusted. If anyone has knowledge of shenanigans in relation to the 2003 Environmental Assessment and the Finding of No Significant Impact, or of the NAS Key West AICUZ that they feel should be brought into the light, they should contact the GAO through one of the following means.

The control number 51428 will direct the information to the correct office. They accept anonymous submissions.

E-mail address [is] fraudnet@gao.gov; control number 51428; fax number [is] 202-512-3086; phone number [is] 800-424-5454 (automated answering system), mention the control number.

Mailing address: Fraudnet Control Number 51428; Government Accountability Office; 441 G St., N.W. Mail Stop 4T21; Washington, DC 20548.

John Hammerstrom, Tavernier