TUCSON, AZ. (CN) — The Center for Biological Diversity sued the United States Air Force in federal court Friday, seeking public records related to its proposal to expand military training operations over millions of acres of sensitive wilderness in southeast Arizona and Southwest New Mexico.
The center requested eight categories of documents related to the plan, which would expand the types of flights allowed in 10 different military operation areas, in December 2022. According to the center in its lawsuit, the Air Force has not responded to its requests beyond asking that the center pay $61,000 for the requested documents.
Advocates for the conservation group say the plan to authorize low-level fighter jet maneuvers and supersonic flights in the ten airspaces across the Southwest would pollute rural and Tribal communities, national monuments and conservation areas, namely the Gila Wilderness, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and other areas of southern Arizona.
The proposal would permit flights as low as 100 feet from the ground, allow the dropping of flares as low as 2,000 feet from the ground and authorize the release of aluminum-coated silica fibers known as “chaff” — a radiofrequency countermeasure used to scramble enemy radar. Conservationists say it will increase risk to wildlife while endangering both the environment and public health.
Depending on the alternative the Air Force chooses, the proposal may also lower the limit for supersonic flights from 10,000 feet to only 5,000 feet, splitting the distance between blaring sonic booms and the ears of animals and humans alike.
“These deafening flights pose a serious threat to the people and animals who call these remote wildlands home,” Trisha Sharma, a legal fellow at the center said in a Friday press release. “Jets thundering overhead create health problems for people and harm imperiled animals, so it’s disappointing that the Air Force has gone radio silent in providing this crucial information.”
The Air Force says on its website that the limitations placed on the military operation areas lack the capacity for pilots to simulate real-world combat, in which they would fly much lower and faster than current regulations allow. It says a pilot must be able to practice “terrain masking” — the use of mountains, trees and other geographic features to hide an aircraft from enemies — and low altitude escapes to ensure survival in combat situations.
Among other categories, the center requested data supporting the Air Force’s claim that current regulations are insufficient for proper training. Other types of records it requested include missions, operational plans and training exercises, along with studies, maps and planning records, noise and disturbance complaints against the three bases using the operation areas, records of all public comments submitted in response to the Air Force’s environmental impact statement and mapped locations of designated avoidance areas within the operation areas.
Luke Air Force Base, in Phoenix’s West Valley, responded to the request three months after it was filed in late 2022, according to the center, and didn’t agree to waive the hefty fee originally imposed until January 2024.
An email from the base in September 2023 notified the center that its fee waiver was denied “on the basis that the requester has not demonstrated that its requested release will make a significant contribution to the public’s understanding of government operations or activities.”
After agreeing to waive the fee, Luke Air Force Base officials told the center that they couldn’t provide an estimated completion date due to the high volume of records requested. Instead, it agreed to provide weekly updates on the progress of the request, but only actually sent seven as of Friday, 16 months after the request was made.
“The Air Force has been shockingly uncooperative every step of the way, even though the public has a right to this information,” Sharma said in the press release. “Air Force officials should do the right thing and give people the info they need to understand what might happen to the places they live.”
The center brings claims for violations of the Freedom of Information Act for the failure to respond to and fill the records request by the federally established due dates. It asks that a federal judge declare the Air Force in violation of the act and require the production of all records relevant to the request.
A captain at Luke Air Force base declined to comment on the lawsuit. Air Force headquarters in Washington D.C. didn’t return a phone call for comment.