End Harmful Blue Angels Shows in Seattle!

Blue Angels air shows over Seattle each year are harmful, dangerous, environmentally destructive, and betray Seattle values. The harms detailed in this petition disproportionately affect some of our most vulnerable residents and workers. It is the responsibility of the Seattle City Council and mayoral candidates to recognize the harms caused by the Blue Angels, and end future shows in Seattle.

PETITION GOALS&colon

1. Seattle City Council to propose a bill to halt the use of City of Seattle for Blue Angels air shows;
2. Seattle City Council to hold public hearings on the harm caused by the Blue Angels to Seattle’s people, animals, and the environment;
3. Mayor of Seattle and Seattle City Council to present results of these hearings to the FAA and US Navy to remove Seattle from future Blue Angels schedules.

STATEMENT&colon

We urge the Seattle City Council and Mayor of Seattle to take action to address the harms caused by annual Blue Angels airshows that take place for four days every year. While some people find these shows enjoyable, we all face harm by the extremely loud, polluting, disruptive military displays. These harms are magnified for some of our most vulnerable residents. In addition, the City of Seattle should not support the use of the city to support military recruitment and promote public relations for the US military, which are the missions of the Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels perform 30‐40 air shows in a typical year, but very few are performed over large cities. Seattle and San Francisco, two of the most progressive cities in the country, are exceptions. Most Blue Angels air shows are performed over unpopulated air fields, as is standard practice for air shows worldwide. The City of Seattle should urge the Blue Angels to follow these accepted standards and cease their airshows over our populated city.

There has never been a study on the harms caused by the Blue Angels to the people, animals, or environment of the city of Seattle. However, the following harms have been identified.

Any one of these harms alone is reason enough to stop the Blue Angels from performing over Seattle&colon

• Extreme noise &colon Noise pollution from the Blue Angels is extreme and is not just an annoyance, but is disruptive and harmful. The Blue Angels have been reported at up to 105 decibels on the ground in Capitol Hill, loud enough to cause hearing loss with repeated exposures. Reports in other cities have found 110‐120 decibels. These extreme noises are painful, disruptive to work and personal lives, damaging to sensitive wildlife, and cause extreme fear in some children and pets. People with PTSD, autism, disabilities, and some health conditions can face magnified harm as well.

• Severe environmental effects &colon The Blue Angels have never conducted an environmental impact study for their shows over Seattle, but the environmental effects are undoubtedly large. According to the Seattle P‐I, the Blue Angels burn roughly 36,400 gallons of jet fuel blend during their four days over Seattle. According to reports, this includes a blend of highly toxic JP‐5 jet fuel that has severe local effects to the air and ground when burned. In addition, the Blue Angels release roughly 160 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per show over Seattle.

• High likelihood of disaster &colon Blue Angels crashes are not rare events; they are regular occurrences. If the Blue Angels continue to fly over Seattle each year, it is not only possible that there will be a catastrophic crash, it is highly likely. Twenty‐seven Blue Angels pilots have died from crashing during shows or practices, giving the job a 10&percnt on‐the‐job fatality rate since their founding in 1946. The last deadly Blue Angels crash was in 2016 in Smyrna, TN. The chance of a crash at any given Blue Angels show over its history has been roughly 1&percnt ‐‐ an absolutely unacceptable risk. No Blue Angels crashes to date have been over a highly populated city like Seattle, limiting civilian deaths. However, a crash in Seattle could be devastating, hurting and killing many Seattle residents and workers, and possibly result in costly lawsuits against the city given their knowledge that these risks were present and deemed acceptable.

• Economic impacts to Seattle &colon The Blue Angels have never conducted an economic study for their impacts in Seattle. Along with the closure of I‐90 for four consecutive days, the extreme noise disrupts many jobs, including service workers and, increasingly, remote workers at home in affected areas.

• Harm to refugees and others who have experienced war &colon Seattle can not be considered a sanctuary for those fleeing war when the Blue Angels fly over each year. Refugees are amongst other vulnerable groups who are often re‐traumatized or otherwise harmed by loud military air shows, according to a report in the Toronto Star titled, “ Air show too traumatic for newcomers who escaped war. ” Seattle has a large number of refugee and other immigrant residents from war‐affected areas, and the damage to them from the Blue Angels has not been studied, and their voices are largely unheard.

• Harm to veterans and other vulnerable populations &colon Seattle is not a safe city for many war veterans and other vulnerable people during Blue Angels shows. According to a doctor who worked at Seattle’ Veterans Affairs hospital, the Blue Angels commonly trigger severe post‐traumatic stress symptoms in veterans, and many of Seattle’s veterans are forced to leave the city during Blue Angels shows. We should not be continuing to harm veterans. Other vulnerable people in Seattle, such as others with PTSD and disabilities, face other types of harm. In addition, the Blue Angels act as a spectacle of military power and violence, which contributes to a culture of violence on our streets that affects our most vulnerable people disproportionately.

• Racial justice impacts &colon These are racial justice issues. All of these harmful effects from the Blue Angels are magnified in South and East Seattle, where the Blue Angels primarily fly over. These areas of the city have the highest densities of residents of color in Seattle, who are once again forced to incur disproportionate harm.

• Wasteful spending &colon Each Blue Angels show in Seattle directly costs federal taxpayers &dollar1.26 million, in addition to the &dollar56 million cost to federal taxpayers for each specially‐equipped F/A 18 Hornet show jet. These aircraft are not used for any other purpose, and need to be replaced regularly due to crashes. The Blue Angels aircraft are currently planned to be replaced with F/A 18 Super Hornet jets at an even higher cost. Including support personnel, training, frequent on‐the‐job deaths, and replacement of destroyed jets, the cost is likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars for the entire Blue Angels program.

• Promotion of militarism and military recruitment &colon According to the US Navy, the mission of the Blue Angels is for military recruitment and public relations. Seattle Public Schools places limits on campus military recruitment, but the Blue Angels turn the entire city of Seattle into a military recruitment tool. We should not turn the city into an advertisement for the US military one weekend a year. In addition, the spectacle of the Blue Angels is a government expense that detracts from Seattle’s history and legacy of protest against unjust war.

We urge the Seattle City Council and Seattle Mayor to take action prior to the publication of the Blue Angels schedule in 2018 .

First, the Seattle City Council should propose a resolution to halt the use of the City of Seattle for Blue Angels shows. This acts both as a recognition that Seattle residents face harms from the Blue Angels, and a statement to governing officials at the FAA and US Navy that Seattle takes these issues seriously and wants the Blue Angels to alter future schedules to remove Seattle.

Second, the Seattle City Council should hold public hearings to listen to the harms incurred by the people of Seattle by the Blue Angels.

Third, the findings and proposal should be presented by the Mayor of Seattle and the Seattle City Council to the FAA and US Navy to remove the Blue Angels from their schedule.

Thank you. We will continue to support the Seattle City Council and Mayor as you move forward with these actions.