Navy can use sonar, court says - Appellate ruling gives the go-ahead for training off the Southland coast, despite concerns that whales may be harmed.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco has given the U.S. Navy a temporary go-ahead to use high-powered sonar during nearly a dozen upcoming training exercises in Southern California waters.
Friday's ruling puts a temporary stay on an injunction ordered last month by a Los Angeles federal judge to stop the powerful bursts of sonar -- used to detect hostile submarines -- because they could "cause irreparable harm to the environment." Scientists have linked sonar use to mass whale die-offs.
A three-judge panel ruled 2 to 1 that U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper did not give adequate consideration to the public's interest "in having a trained and effective Navy."
"The safety of our whales must be weighed, and so must the safety of our warriors. And of our country," wrote Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the U.S 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling Friday is not the final say on the issue. Another 9th Circuit panel will hear more in-depth arguments to decide whether to reinstate the injunction or maintain the stay, which would allow the Navy to continue to use sonar until the lawsuit is settled. That hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Pasadena.
The dissenting judge, Milan D. Smith, wrote that the Navy did not make a compelling case that the nation's security would be jeopardized if it took the same precautions to protect marine mammals that it used just last year in Hawaii as part of an earlier court settlement.
Unless "someone can demonstrate that the Navy jeopardized our national security and failed to properly train our involved military personnel [then]. . . it is hard to imagine why implementing some of those same environmental mitigation measures would do so now."
The suit was brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, citing reports by scientists over the last decade tying mid-frequency active sonar to a number of mass whale strandings or panicked behavior after naval exercises in the waters off Greece, Hawaii, the Bahamas and elsewhere.
Smith, appointed by President Bush last year, said the suit to stop the Navy's sonar use is likely to prevail.
"This is a short-term stay to allow the court to review the merits in full," said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney for the plaintiffs. "The court will hear the matter on a highly expedited basis, and we look forward to that review."
The Navy, which has planned its next sonar exercise for this month, praised Friday's ruling.
