Ruling on Navy sonar won't affect Isles now
Advertiser Staff and News Services
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling yesterday on the Navy's use of high-powered sonar off the Southern California coast won't immediately affect Navy sonar use in Hawai'i waters, a Honolulu-based environmental attorney says.
"It's a decision about another particular federal District Court ruling, not ours," said Paul Achitoff, an Earthjustice attorney who represents five environmental groups seeking stronger restrictions on the use of sonar in Hawai'i waters.
In the California case, Chief Justice John G. Roberts said the Navy needs to train its crews to detect enemy submarines, and that it cannot be forced to turn off its sonar when whales are spotted at distances closer than Navy operating procedures.
"The public interest in conducting training exercises with active sonar under realistic conditions plainly outweighs" concerns voiced by environmentalists about the sonar's effect on marine mammals, Roberts said for a 5-4 majority.
Roberts faulted judges in California for "second-guessing" the views of Navy leaders and questioned whether whales have been harmed by sonar. He said the Navy had been operating off the California coast for 40 years "without a single documented sonar-related injury to any marine mammal."
The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups disagree. They say studies have shown that the piercing underwater sounds cause whales to flee in panic. Studies show some whales have beached themselves and have shown signs of bleeding in their ears as a result of high-powered sonar.
While the Supreme Court ruling affects only California now, "it doesn't mean it won't result in effects in our case if and when the Navy argues that changes to (Honolulu-based U.S. District Court) Judge David Ezra's injunction are warranted by the Supreme Court ruling," Achitoff said.
Both the California and Hawai'i cases relate to federal court rulings that imposed additional restrictions on Navy sonar training beyond the 29 protective measures it routinely employs to minimize potential injury to marine mammals, Navy spokesman Mark Matsunaga said.
Achitoff said key differences in the Hawai'i and California lawsuits are:
"This case was vital to our Navy and nation's security, and we are pleased with the Supreme Court's decision in this matter," Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter said in a prepared statement. "We can now continue to train our sailors effectively, under realistic combat conditions, and certify our crews 'combat ready' while continuing to be good stewards of the marine environment."
In Hawai'i, environmentalists have pointed to the use of Navy sonar during Rimpac exercises in the July 28 stranding and subsequent death of a 15-foot Cuvier's beaked whale on Moloka'i.
The Navy said there is no evidence that sonar affected the 2,500-pound, deep-diving whale.
NOAA Fisheries determined that the use of midfrequency Navy sonar was a "plausible, if not likely" contributing factor to the mass stranding of up to 200 melon-headed whales in Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i, during Rimpac naval exercises in 2004.
The Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and Advertiser reporter Diana Leone contributed to this report.
