The pending transfer of a U.S. Navy acoustics laboratory on Fox Island to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has set off a storm of protest from environmentalists and nearby property owners.

For years, Fox Island residents complained that the Navy facility, with its 184-foot pier and warehouse-sized barges, was acting as a breakwater, damaging beaches on a mile-long stretch of Carr Inlet, undermining boat ramps and bulkheads and destroying marine habitat.

Critics rejoiced last summer when the Navy packed up and left for the submarine base at Bangor, hauling away two barges that had been parked along the quiet residential waterfront.

Congress appropriated $3 million to facilitate the move. The Navy’s budget for the project included demolishing the laboratory building, pulling up the chain-link fencing, removing a rock bulkhead and returning the site to its natural state, down to replanting native vegetation.

It came as a surprise to many recently to learn that the Navy will not repair the damage after all. Not only that, but one of the barges likely is on its way back, reincarnated as a diving school.

The BIA has applied to take over the federal property for use by the Nisqually Tribe of Indians. The tribe has acquired one of the Navy’s barges through a military surplus program and, according to a statement of purpose the tribe filed with the BIA, it intends to tie the vessel up at the pier.

The tribe wants to use the property as a base for its fish and wildlife law enforcement officers, oil spill response operation, natural resources research and as a headquarters for its commercial diving company, Nisqually Aquatic Technologies.

Why the change in plans? The question has neighbors and environmentalists scratching their heads.

“Why should taxpayers spend money to move the Navy and then end up with another facility on Fox Island that’s as bad or worse?” asked Matt Corsi, a civil engineer who owns property a few hundred feet northwest of the facility. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

SHIFTING CURRENTS

Corsi’s grandfather built a beach-front cabin on the property in 1939, and it’s been in the family ever since.

After the Navy built the pier and moved in its barges, Corsi said, the altered currents scoured his family’s sandy beach down to cobbles and clay, dropping it 6 feet below its former level.

Aerial photographs of the beach taken since the pier was built in 1969 show the growth of a sand spit at the site.

If the tribe is permitted to carry through with its plans, environmentalists say, the damage to the beach will continue.

Removing the pier has been on priority lists for years by scientists working on salmon recovery and the overall health of Puget Sound, said Doug Myers, director of science with the environmental group People for Puget Sound.

“When you put a structure over water in a perpendicular pattern like that, it tends to block sand movement from one direction to the other,” Myers said. “It has trapped a lot of that sand around its base, robbing sediment from elsewhere on the beach.”

That tends to disrupt natural processes, Myers said, destroying habitat for several creatures, including sand lance and surf smelt, which lay their eggs on soft sandy shorelines.

“Money was appropriated to the Navy for removing the structure, but they apparently transferred it to building a new facility,” Myers said. “They kind of forgot about cleaning up the old one.”

John Blaser, who owns property next door to the lab, was more blunt.

“The Navy failed to repair the beach and arbitrarily decided to spend the money somewhere else,” he said. “To me, that just defies belief.”

IT MAKES SENSE TO THE NAVY

From the Navy’s point of view, the decision to leave the Fox Island facility intact was logical and fiscally responsible.

The Navy did plan to take out the pier and return the beach to its natural state, said Navy spokesman Chris Haley.

However, he said, other aspects of consolidating sonar operations at Bangor cost more than expected, including the transfer of 60 scientists and engineers from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.

“The contract exceeded the budget allowed,” Haley said. “Leaving the facility did not present a health or safety risk, and the thinking was that the ability to find interest in the property would be greater if those facilities were left intact.”

Based on a review of records of discussions at the time, Haley said, the issue of environmental damage was not part of the equation.

“The overriding look was, those facilities, the pier, the building, would increase the value of the property and make the property more attractive to others who wanted to use it,” Haley said. “That, plus the fact that we wanted to do all of those things with a single pot of money.”

The Navy turned the pier and uplands property over to the federal General Services Administration in June. As federal law allows, the GSA first advertised the property to other federal agencies. The BIA applied for the property on behalf of the Nisqually Tribe.

“The tribe’s interest in the property is that it would provide the tribe’s nationally recognized commercial dive team (Nisqually Aquatic Technologies) and department of natural resources with much-needed waterfront access, training classrooms and other facilities,” tribal spokesman Michael Graubard wrote in a e-mail.

“The Nisqually Tribe, including the dive team, is committed to protecting and preserving the region’s waterways and natural resources and is proud to have a leading role in many environmental stewardship projects and programs,” Graubard wrote.

“Use of this property will increase the tribe’s ability to support water-based environmental programs in the region.”

Nisqually Aquatic Technologies grew out of the tribe’s geoduck harvesting operations and has expanded into lucrative state contracts, some financed with federal stimulus money.

Its work includes removing derelict fishing nets and creosote covered pilings. In promotional material, the company says it has trained more than 750 tribal divers.

NO PUBLIC INPUT

The transfer of the Fox Island facility could take place before the end of this year if all goes smoothly, GSA representative Ross Buffington said.

The transfer process does not include an opportunity for public input, which frustrates opponents.

U.S. Rep Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, who worked with property owners to facilitate the Navy’s relocation to Bangor, has promised that he or his staff will meet with opponents to discuss their concerns before the deal is finalized.

“There are concerns about the environmental impact of the dock,” Dicks said.

“What we’ve got to do is work with the tribe and see if there’s some way we can work on the beach issue,” the congressman said. “It’s not an incompatible use. Having a diving school there is not offensive.”

Rob Carson: 253-597-8693

rob.carson@thenewstribune.com