PORT TOWNSEND — People have a right to know about the munitions at Naval Magazine Indian Island and any potential dangers, says a petition submitted to the three Jefferson County commissioners Tuesday.
More than 400 people signed the petition, organizers said.
While acknowledging that the county has no authority in the matter, petition organizers are asking commissioners to write letters to Sens. Patty Murray, D-Bothell, and Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, asking the senators to challenge a section of the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 which they feel curtails the public’s right to know about safety risks.
The section of the huge military funding bill allows the Department of Defense to withhold “sensitive but unclassified information related to critical infrastructure or protected systems owned or operated by the Department of Defense that could substantially facilitate the effectiveness of an attack designed to destroy equipment, create maximum casualties, or steal particularly sensitive military weapons including information regarding the securing and safeguarding of explosives, hazardous chemicals, or pipelines.”
Doug Milholland, one of those circulating the petition, said: “We don’t want access to government secrets or classified information.”
Milholland added: “If the Navy thinks this is sensitive, they should classify it.
“Otherwise they should just give us the information so the public can be informed of the potential danger.”
The section is a small part of the omnibus funding bill, which authorizes funding for the Department of Defense and the national security programs of the Department of Energy.
The bill was passed by the House on May 26. Rep. Norm Dicks, who represents the 6th Congressional District which includes the North Olympic Peninsula, voted in favor of it.
It was moved out of the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 16 and will go before the full Senate for consideration. Milholland said he expects a floor vote in August.
Calls requesting comment from the Navy were not returned Tuesday.
The facility across Port Townsend Bay from the town is the only munitions storage and transfer depot on the West Coast for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet.
The 2,716-acre installation handles non-nuclear bombs, including Tomahawk missiles, bullets, torpedoes, shells and other ordnance.
The petition’s supporters say that the section of the bill that permits withholding of unclassified information is a reaction to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in March in favor of Kitsap County resident Glen Milner.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that the Navy cannot use a particular exemption in the Freedom of Information Act to withhold explosives data and maps showing the extent of damage if there were an explosion at Naval Magazine Indian Island.
Milholland said that, if the section of the bill is passed, it will weaken the Freedom of Information Act in general and hurt the citizens of Port Townsend in particular.
“The level of danger could determine whether people want to move here or keep living here,” Milholland said.
“If we are in a ‘sacrifice zone’ we need to know.”
After the commissioner meeting, County Administrator Philip Morley said the commissioners are studying all the material submitted to them and would decide whether to take action prior to the Senate vote.
During the public comment period, Joe D’Amico, president of Gardiner-based Security Services Northwest, noted that the commissioners have no jurisdiction over the naval base.
“If you did, you would have gone in there and issued them a stop work order whenever [the Navy] tried to expand,” he said.
Milholland said that jurisdiction was not the issue, telling the commissioners “by taking a stand here, you can make a difference.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.