By MARIANNE EDAIN

Color me furious. I’ve recently attended a meeting with Sen. Patty Murray’s staff concerning the Navy and PFAS contamination on Whidbey. I give lots of credit to Sen. Murray. She and her fellow politicos are trying hard to do the right thing. They’re running into a roadblock at the Department of Defense. This is compounded by long-term foot dragging at the regulatory agencies.

First, Congress ordered DOD to produce a schedule for testing and cleaning up PFAS contamination around the country. DOD ignored them. The deadline for that report has come and gone, with no response. Then DOD told Congress they would get around to looking at the problem – oh, by 2031 on Whidbey. Congress, to its credit, said that was not good enough and offered significant funding to begin the process now. DOD declined the funding, claiming it were not in position to use the funds. Really? When was the last time a federal agency or department declined funding? Just what is going on here?

What’s going on in and around Coupeville and Oak Harbor is that people are drinking contaminated water and the Navy appears to be just fine with that. They put a filter system on Coupeville’s wells, which reduced the PFAS some, but levels continue to increase. Gee, sorry. They accept no responsibility for poisoning tens of thousands of Whidbey residents and visitors. Just one more cost of The Sound of Freedom. There is a long list of health impacts from PFAS. Again, the Navy (and DOD) wash their hands of any responsibility. For a thorough report, check Whidbey Environmental Action Network’s website.

Let’s put this in a broader context. For years now the folks at Sound Defense Alliance, with the help of the state attorney general, have been fighting to regain a modicum of peace and quiet while the Navy tells us to suck it up. Last year WEAN succeeded in preventing the Navy from using our State Parks for spy training. The Navy claimed they needed our parks to protect us from … something.

And now we discover that we have been poisoned for decades by a product in the Navy’s firefighting foam. Once again, rather than taking responsibility and working to reduce the harm, the Navy is telling us to suck it up. They’ll get around to looking at the problem – later. This is a pattern of militarization of our society, in which the civilian population is subjected to ever-increasing incursions on daily life, all in the name of “protection” of our “freedom.” We’re free to go deaf while being spied on and ending up in the hospital and an early grave. We all thought that Brave New World was just a story. Nope. We’re living it.

Marianne Edain is co-founder of Whidbey Environmental Action Network, a South Whidbey organization that works to protect the environment.