A recent ruling in California regarding the Navy’s use of sonar may soon lend momentum to anti-sonar efforts here in Hawai‘i. Federal District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper in California temporarily lifted part of her own injunction that required the Navy
A recent ruling in California regarding the Navy’s use of sonar may soon lend momentum to anti-sonar efforts here in Hawai‘i.
Federal District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper in California temporarily lifted part of her own injunction that required the Navy to not use high-intensity sonar during upcoming training exercises in Southern California waters.
Cooper was forced to lift elements of the injunction by a Bush administration order that makes Navy requirements less stringent.
In the most recent ruling, a requirement for the Navy to turn off sonar if marine mammals are detected within 2,000 meters of a sonar source was temporarily lifted. The requirement to shut off sonar during surface ducting conditions, which allow sound to travel underwater for a distance, was also lifted.
The lawsuit from where the injunction and Bush action originated was brought against the Navy by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Bush administration issued two waivers Jan. 15 aiming to exempt the Navy from the Coastal Zone Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, laws on which the original injunction was based, citing national security.
“This is not a national security issue,” said Joel Reynolds, attorney and director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the NRDC, in a statement. “The Navy doesn’t need to harm whales to train effectively with sonar. It simply chooses to for the sake of convenience.”
Paul Achitoff, an attorney for Earthjustice, said the lawsuit filed to protect endangered whales in Hawai‘i from Navy sonar last May is similar to the lawsuit in California.
“Certainly Judge (David) Ezra is following events in California,” Achitoff said. “He will read the judge’s order and consider it. He will not copy it, but will do what’s best for Hawai‘i.”
Achitoff said the motion for the preliminary injunction will be filed Feb. 11.
According to Achitoff, he will be asking the judge to follow what Judge Cooper in California ordered on Jan. 3, among other issues specific to Hawai‘i.
Achitoff said he could not comment on those issues at this time.
Gordon LaBedz, of the Kaua‘i chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said he was surprised the federal court in California ruled in favor of the whales.
“I am optimistic,” LaBedz said. “The federal judge forced the Navy to change their behavior in California, I hope the Navy has to change their ways in Hawai‘i.”
Achitoff mentions the current lawsuit does not address the biennial Rim of the Pacific — RIMPAC — war games off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands.
“Whatever the courts do in California and Hawai‘i may have some influence on how the Navy deals with RIMPAC,” Achitoff said.
For the upcoming RIMPAC naval exercises this summer, the U.S. Department of Defense has exempted the Navy and the use of sonar from adhering to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The two-year exemption was issued in January 2007.
Before the last RIMPAC exercises off Kaua‘i in 2006, a federal court judge in California issued a temporary restraining order against the use of active sonar. Six days later, the order was lifted after the Navy agreed to not use mid-frequency sonar and to not use sonar within 25 nautical miles of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument.
Sonar is mostly used to detect submarines and ships.
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com
