Post by Ace on Oct 13, 2003 17:53:50 GMT -5
San Francisco Gate
Environmentalists, Navy strike deal on controversial sonar system
ANGELA WATERCUTTER,
Associated Press Writer Monday, October 13, 2003
(10-13) 14:17 PDT SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) --
The Navy will limit the peacetime use of a new sonar system, designed to detect quiet enemy submarines, under an agreement announced Monday by environmentalists who had sued over the risk it may pose to whales and other marine mammals.
The Navy agreed to use the sonar only in specific areas along the eastern seaboard of Asia under the terms of a settlement reached last week, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The agreement still must be approved by a federal magistrate to become permanent. If implemented, the deal would greatly restrict the Navy's original plan for the low-frequency sonar system, which once was slated to be tested in most of the world's oceans. The system is designed to detect enemy diesel submarines at great distances.
The Navy has not received final word of the agreement, but would comply, Lt. Cmdr. Cappy Surrette said.
"Whatever the final decision is, the Navy will uphold the law," Surrette said from the Pentagon.
Environmentalists say that sonar systems endanger marine mammals and fish, especially whales. They point to a different system the Navy used in 2000, when at least 16 whales and two dolphins beached themselves on islands in the Bahamas. Eight whales died and scientists found hemorrhaging around their brains and ear bones consistent with exposure to loud noise.
"Oceans are an acoustic environment, and the species that live there have an acute acoustic sense," Frederick O'Regan, president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said in a conference call Monday. "If we interfere with these critical behaviors, we may be affecting not just individual animals, but entire populations."
The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups sued the Navy last year over the new system, seeking to restrict its use.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte later issued a preliminary injunction restricting use of the system, and in a separate ruling ordered the environmentalists and the Navy to negotiate a final settlement.
Since the injunction, the Navy has used the sonar system, called the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System, Low Frequency Active, in restricted areas without harm to marine life, Surrette said.
The newly announced deal, which is the result of those negotiations, largely mirrors the restrictions imposed by Laporte's earlier injunction. She must still approve the settlement for it to become final.
Joel Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, hailed the settlement as balancing the needs of the environment and the Navy.
"We recognize that preparation for our national defense is of paramount importance. No one doubts that. But it isn't an either-or choice. ... We've always had environmental protection -- and protection of our national security," Reynolds said during a news conference.
In addition to restricting the system to the eastern seaboard of Asia, the Navy also agreed to seasonal restrictions during whale migration, and to avoid using the system near the coast.
None of the restrictions applies during time of war.
The NRDC, International Fund for Animal Welfare and other environmental groups announced a new global campaign Monday to stop the spread of high-intensity sonar systems in oceans. Such systems are used by military forces of Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other European nations.
"We have a passion for what we know is right. We must act here now and abroad, and I am speaking also as an Irishman, and I will do as much as I can here today but also abroad to bring this technology under control," actor and activist Pierce Brosnan told reporters at Monday's news conference.
Environmentalists, Navy strike deal on controversial sonar system
ANGELA WATERCUTTER,
Associated Press Writer Monday, October 13, 2003
(10-13) 14:17 PDT SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) --
The Navy will limit the peacetime use of a new sonar system, designed to detect quiet enemy submarines, under an agreement announced Monday by environmentalists who had sued over the risk it may pose to whales and other marine mammals.
The Navy agreed to use the sonar only in specific areas along the eastern seaboard of Asia under the terms of a settlement reached last week, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The agreement still must be approved by a federal magistrate to become permanent. If implemented, the deal would greatly restrict the Navy's original plan for the low-frequency sonar system, which once was slated to be tested in most of the world's oceans. The system is designed to detect enemy diesel submarines at great distances.
The Navy has not received final word of the agreement, but would comply, Lt. Cmdr. Cappy Surrette said.
"Whatever the final decision is, the Navy will uphold the law," Surrette said from the Pentagon.
Environmentalists say that sonar systems endanger marine mammals and fish, especially whales. They point to a different system the Navy used in 2000, when at least 16 whales and two dolphins beached themselves on islands in the Bahamas. Eight whales died and scientists found hemorrhaging around their brains and ear bones consistent with exposure to loud noise.
"Oceans are an acoustic environment, and the species that live there have an acute acoustic sense," Frederick O'Regan, president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said in a conference call Monday. "If we interfere with these critical behaviors, we may be affecting not just individual animals, but entire populations."
The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups sued the Navy last year over the new system, seeking to restrict its use.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte later issued a preliminary injunction restricting use of the system, and in a separate ruling ordered the environmentalists and the Navy to negotiate a final settlement.
Since the injunction, the Navy has used the sonar system, called the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System, Low Frequency Active, in restricted areas without harm to marine life, Surrette said.
The newly announced deal, which is the result of those negotiations, largely mirrors the restrictions imposed by Laporte's earlier injunction. She must still approve the settlement for it to become final.
Joel Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, hailed the settlement as balancing the needs of the environment and the Navy.
"We recognize that preparation for our national defense is of paramount importance. No one doubts that. But it isn't an either-or choice. ... We've always had environmental protection -- and protection of our national security," Reynolds said during a news conference.
In addition to restricting the system to the eastern seaboard of Asia, the Navy also agreed to seasonal restrictions during whale migration, and to avoid using the system near the coast.
None of the restrictions applies during time of war.
The NRDC, International Fund for Animal Welfare and other environmental groups announced a new global campaign Monday to stop the spread of high-intensity sonar systems in oceans. Such systems are used by military forces of Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other European nations.
"We have a passion for what we know is right. We must act here now and abroad, and I am speaking also as an Irishman, and I will do as much as I can here today but also abroad to bring this technology under control," actor and activist Pierce Brosnan told reporters at Monday's news conference.
