As a follow-up to a story from last month, the California Coastal Commission has filed a lawsuit against the US Navy for dismissing safeguards put in place to protect whales and other marine mammals from 14 high-intensity sonar training exercises scheduled for some of the richest marine habitats and sanctuaries off the Southern California coast. A separate suit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, with the support of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Cetacean Society International, the League for Coastal Protection, Ocean Futures Society, and Jean-Michel Cousteau.
This is the first time such a lawsuit has been brought by a state agency. These suits set up a legal battle between the state of California’s right to enforce its environmental protection laws, and the Navy’s claim that it is exempt from those laws when it acts in the interest of national security. The Pentagon granted a two-year exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act to the Navy in 2006 so that it could continue with its detrimental training exercises.
As part of internal guidelines to ensure that training exercises meet environmental requirements, the Navy was obligated to seek approval with the California Coastal Commission before continuing forward. After reviewing the proposed sonar exercises, the commission set a dozen additional conditions to protect the whales and other marine mammals in the area. Rather than meet these conditions set forth by the commission, the Navy decided to ignore the extra safeguards, declaring that the commission had no authority to tell it what to do.
The Navy claims its sailors are taking sufficient precautions to protect marine life, and that any negative effects on whales would be temporary. Jaimee Jordan Patterson, a state deputy attorney general representing the Coastal Commission, said the Navy's arguments are weak and unlikely to survive federal court scrutiny. Once again, insisting that their maintained illusion of security trumps all, the Navy has refused to disclose the location and dates of upcoming exercises in court.
Still, the “9/11 changed everything” excuse employed by the Navy does not seem to hold much weight with Californians anymore. Increasing scientific evidence has shown a strong link between powerful sonar and the mass panic and die-offs of whales and dolphins in areas where testing is done. "The Navy cannot simply arm-wave away the body of evidence that sonar can harm and kill marine mammals," said Commissioner Sara Wan. Attorneys for the state and nonprofit groups believe training sessions can be conducted without compromising the safeguards put in place to protect marine life.
[Homepage Photo by yeimaya; Article Photo by Kinho Pizzato]
