Court to Decide Fate of Navy Sonar

Court to Decide Fate of Navy Sonar
Virginian-Pilot | January 02, 2008

A federal judge in California is scheduled to release a decision this week that will outline what the Navy must do to protect whales and other marine mammals from the loud blasts of its sonar equipment .

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper's ruling in the closely watched case, expected by week's end, will not only affect Navy training exercises scheduled for the waters off Southern California over the next year but could also clarify how closely the military must follow environmental laws.

With marine scientists increasingly convinced that sonar can frighten, confuse and sometimes injure or even kill sea creatures - especially the acoustically sensitive whales - and with the United States at war, the issue has become contentious and the stakes high.

"This case is really about whether the Navy has to follow the law," said Joel Reynolds, a lawyer who has argued the case for the Natural Resources Defense Council and has taken the Navy to court on several other sonar-related issues. "Is the military bound by environmental laws, or does national security trump them?"

Reynolds said the council and other environmental groups, later joined by the California Coastal Commission, support the Navy's need to train sonar operators.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,159232,00.html