see also, in Grist: So Near, Yet Sonar
Five Environmental Groups Sue Navy Over Sonar Use off Hawaii
-
Naval Gazing
Grist Magazine, May 17, 2007
Straight to the Source
Tensions over the U.S. Navy's use of sonar in anti-submarine exercises
off Hawaii have resurfaced, and five green groups are suing to change
the practice. Citing concerns that sonar can kill and injure whales,
dolphins, and other marine mammals, the lawsuit names both the Navy and
the National Marine Fisheries Service, which issues permits for the
activities. It asks the court to stop the exercises -- 12 of which are
planned through 2008 -- until an environmental impact study is
completed and protective measures are enacted. The Navy maintains that
it has gone "to great lengths" to be wicked careful, keeping an eye out
for whales from on deck and from airplanes, and turning off sonar when
the creatures get too close. But activists say some such practices have
been abandoned, and claim the Navy is violating environmental laws.
"The Navy is not above the law," says Marti Townsend of KAHEA, a
Hawaiian environmental coalition. "Protecting the country includes
following its laws, not skirting them."