Legal action threatened against Navy for sonar testing issue

0
186

The Navy said it would ignore recommendations from the California Coastal Commission to modify its underwater sonar war games, which can be harmful to whales and other sea life.

By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times

The National Resource Defense Council said it is prepared to join the California Coastal Commission in legal action against the Navy for its decision not to take into consideration recommended safety precautions when conducting sonar tests in Southern California ocean waters, said a lawyer for the environmental organization.

“The Navy has a long and proud tradition of not answering to anybody, but, in this case, the NRDC is ready to take them on,” said Cara Horowitz, an attorney for the environmental organization.

Horowitz said the sonar testing issue was discussed at the last meeting of the commission on Feb. 23 and that commissioners emerged with a decision to urge the California Attorney General’s office to “pursue this matter and take all appropriate action to stop it.”

The commission in early January made several recommendations to mitigate the harmful effects that underwater sonar testing may have on marine mammals, including whales, and sea turtles. The Navy said it would not apply any additional safeguards and, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the commission has no authority under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act to regulate the powerful sonar blasts that are said to be harmful, sometimes lethal, to whales and other underwater mammals.

The Coastal Commission has been attempting for several years to restrict naval sonar testing off the coast of California because of the damage it does to marine life. Whales and dolphins have been known to beach themselves and die in areas where sonar testing has been conducted.

“We realize that the Navy must test in waters that are shallow enough to provide appropriate sonar data,” Horowitz said. “But we have repeatedly requested that they simply employ common sense, reasonable safety precautions in areas sensitive to marine life.”

These areas would include waters around the Channel Islands, where grey whales are noted for passing through during migration season.

“All we are asking is that they take protective measures during this time,” which would include suspending activity during the migratory period or re-locating testing sites. Horowitz said.

The Coastal Commission, the NRDC and the Navy itself have indisputable evidence that sonar testing is fatal to whales. In March of 2000, the Navy was conducting tests in the Bahamas, generating intense underwater sonar for a period of up to 16 hours.

Eighteen whales and dolphins beached themselves on Bahamian shores and several died. Necropsies performed on the animals proved that they had suffered bleeding around the inner ears and trauma to the auditory system and parts of the brain and throat sensitive to intense pressures.

Studies written about this incident were acknowledged by the Navy to prove that sonar testing is harmful to marine life and they increased funding for marine mammal research.

“The Navy is sort of in an awkward position,” Horowitz said. “They have acknowledged the damage that sonar testing can cause, but they also challenge anybody’s right to restrict their practices. We’ve been working with the Navy to insure testing compliance since the late ’90s, when the Navy planned to detonate explosives outside of the Channel Islands. In our view, the Navy has its head in the sand.”

For its part, the Navy has publicly rejected the adoption of any conditions restricting military exercises and training.

“We can be responsible environmental stewards while our sonar operators receive the realistic training and experience at sea they need,” said Vice Adm. Barry Costello in a prepared statement.

Horowitz said that, in a letter to the Coastal Commission dated Feb. 12, Rear Admiral C.J. Mossey of the Naval Fleet Civil Engineer corps wrote that the Coastal Commission does not have the authority to regulate sonar training because it won’t harm marine species under the commission’s jurisdiction.