By QUINTON SMITH and SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
A federal judge in Eugene on Monday night ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to immediately return a Coast Guard rescue helicopter and its crew to Newport because the agency improperly moved it last month.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken made her ruling at 6:37 p.m. Monday, acting on lawsuit and accompanying request for a temporary restraining order late Friday from Newport Fishermen’s Wives and Lincoln County.
In a 14-page opinion and order, Aiken told the Coast Guard and Homeland Security director Kristi Noem “to immediately restore and maintain the status quo that has prevailed since 1987 by returning the rescue helicopter to the Coast Guard’s Newport air facility, together with the full operational capabilities, infrastructure and personnel support.”
Aiken said in her ruling she could “discern no hardship to defendants in an injunction requiring them to continue operating the Newport air facility as they have for the better part of four decades.”
The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that the helicopter’s move 90 miles south to North Bend could jeopardize the lives of Newport-based Dungeness crab crews expected to go to sea in three weeks. Aiken’s order remains in effect for 14 days while a hearing schedule is determined on the injunction.
The Coast Guard quietly moved the helicopter in October to North Bend without the notice required by federal law and has basically shuttered its facility at the Newport airport where the helicopter had been based.
The move is suspected to be in conjunction with Homeland Security seeking through third-party contractors to establish an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at the air base and nearby property, which the city of Newport, the county and much of the community is vehemently opposing.
In her order, Aiken said Homeland Security and the Coast Guard did not follow federal rules enacted by Congress after the Fishermen’s Wives group successfully fought a similar helicopter transfer in 2014.
Those rules require that Homeland Security make determinations that before a helicopter is moved that remaining search and rescue capabilities can be safely maintained. The regulations also require that Homeland Security provide opportunities for public comment including public meetings, notification to Congress, and still cannot close a Coast Guard air facility until after 18 months after which all of those steps have been taken.
Aiken wrote that without such a notice from Noem, “the 18-month time limit … has not even begun to run.”
Why the Newport base
The Coast Guard opened a temporary air base in 1987 after the loss of the F/V Lasseigne and its three crew members two years earlier when Coast Guard helicopters were 70 and 95 miles away.
The Obama Administration sought to close the Newport air facility in 2014, promoting a similar challenge by the Fishermen’s Wives and the county. Congress stepped in to stop the closure and then strengthened the notice and process requirements that must come before closing or “downgrading of capabilities of any Coast Guard air facility.”
The lawsuit – and what local, state and federal politicians and advocacy groups have been arguing for weeks – says moving the helicopter 90 miles and 30-60 minutes south represents a danger to Newport’s fishing fleet, the largest on the Oregon coast. While there are Coast Guard lifeboat stations on Yaquina Bay in Newport, in Depoe Bay and on the Siuslaw River in Florence, the closest air stations are in North Bend and Astoria.
Coast Guard officials told the Lincoln Chronicle previously and Sen. Ron. Wyden, D-Ore. during a stop in Newport on Sunday that having the helicopter in North Bend still meets regulatory requirements to have aircraft capabilities within two hours of a mishap.
Aiken wrote that while she agreed with attorneys for the Fishermen’s Wives and the county that while Homeland Security has some operational flexibility, they “have made a compelling showing of likely success on the merits” of their claims concerning the closure of the Newport base.
Aiken said opponents of the helicopter’s move presented “compelling evidence of a grave risk to the lives of the Newport fishermen in the upcoming Dungeness crab fishing season, as well as risks to other members of the community which rely on the Newport air facility for helicopter rescue.”
With that, the judge said the arguments weigh in favor of issuing the requested injunction and the temporary restraining order “on an expedited basis.”
“Plaintiffs have made a compelling showing that public safety, and by extension the public interest, are deeply intertwined with the continued operation of the Newport air facility, particularly as the fishermen prepare for the most dangerous season of the year,” the judge said in her order. “The Newport air facility was constructed in response to a maritime tragedy, and plaintiffs have presented evidence that without its continued operation, the Newport fishermen and the community at large will face serious danger due to the lack of rescue helicopter coverage.”
Aiken wrote that she had not yet heard counter-arguments from Homeland Security or the Coast Guard “but the Court notes that Congress expressed, in no uncertain terms, that the secretary must make certain determinations and follow notice and comment procedures for the public and provide notification to Congress before closing or even significantly reducing the use of a Coast Guard air facility.
“The evidence before the Court at this juncture is that those procedures were not followed …” the judge said.
“The Court concludes that the balance of the equities and the public interest weigh sharply in favor of the requested injunction,” Aiken wrote and ordered the helicopter, its crew and operational support returned to Newport.
Plaintiffs like it
As might be expected, the order was met with agreement and pleasure by representatives of the two plaintiffs.
“We were really surprised that we didn’t have to go in front of the judge with our arguments and that the judge felt so strongly our arguments that we didn’t have to do that,” said Newport Fishermen’s Wives leader Taunette Dixon. “There are still many steps in front of us but this is a really strong sign of what’s to come.”
Lincoln County Commissioner Walter Chuck attributes the quick motion the result of the hard work by many individuals — elected officials as well as the Fisherman’s Wives.
Late Monday night Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan issued a statement saying the judge’s ruling “affirms what our community has long known: the Coast Guard rescue helicopter is a critical lifeline and safety measure for our commercial fishing industry, first responders, and all who live and visit the central Oregon coast.”
“This is good news and a great relief to our coastal communities,” said Rep. Gomberg, D-Otis. “Fisherman will be safer, at least temporarily. We look forward to a final decision soon.”
- Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
To read Judge Ann Aiken’s 14-page ruling and order, go here
This is a great victory “for the people.” I would like to thank the Newport general aviation pilots , led by Dave Koester and the fishermen wives various organizations and U. S. Senator Ron Wyden for restoring this vital lifeline for safer maritime operations during the busy fishing season. While this may only be a short reprieve for this short sighted decision by the administration, keeping up the pressure from the Newport voters will hopefully lead to the permanent return of the Newport helicopter flight operations . Now “we the people” need to keep up the pressure on our elected officials at all levels of government to make the return to be permanent. My thanks to all involved.
Great news. This administration’s continued disregard for the law cannot stand.