Ground Zero Center for Non-Violent Action v. United States Department of the Navy

At issue is a challenge under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq., and the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et *1084 seq., to the United States Navy’s (“Navy”) Trident II missile upgrade program at its submarine base in Bangor, Washington. Appellants Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Waste Action Project, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Peace Action of Washington, Mary Fleysteen, and Glen Milner, (collectively, “Ground Zero”) maintain that the Navy failed to review the probable significant environmental impacts of an accidental explosion of a Trident II(D-5) missile during operations at Bangor, and failed to consult the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) regarding the possible effects of such an explosion on threatened salmon species inhabiting the waters adjacent to the Bangor submarine base.

I

The Navy developed the Fleet Ballistic Missile system during the Cold War as a “survivable retaliatory strike force,” in the Navy’s terminology, that can be launched from submarines deployed at sea if there is a prior nuclear attack against the United States. 1 The Trident…