----- forwarded message -----
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 05:35:16 -0700
From: Teresa Binstock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Judge considers suit to block study on whale detection - sonar
Judge considers suit to block study on whale detection
Friday, January 16, 2004
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/156873_whalesonar16.html
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge yesterday considered
whether to permit a team of marine biologists to continue testing
an experimental sonar system to detect whales that are otherwise
difficult to spot in the deep sea.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, who blocked testing of the
sonar one year ago, had declined Monday to immediately halt the
research, which some environmentalists claim can harm marine
mammals.
Yesterday, the judge heard arguments from the New Hampshire
firm that designed the system, the government agency that
approved the testing and environmental groups that sued to block
the research. After a daylong hearing, he said he would announce
his decision today.
Scientific Solutions Inc. of Nashua, N.H., resumed testing of the
sonar last week off the coast of Central California after receiving
a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
One day after the tests began, a coalition of environmental
groups -- including Australians for Animals, Sea Sanctuary and
others -- filed a lawsuit seeking a judicial ban. They claimed the
high-frequency sonar could distress and disorient whales, drive
them from their habitat and separate calves from their mothers.
Scientific Solutions says the system has not harmed the whales
since testing began and will ultimately help protect them from
ship collisions and underwater explosions.
Last year, environmentalists successfully blocked research on the
system after they filed a lawsuit, contending that an
environmental assessment should have been conducted before
research began.
After obtaining such an assessment, Scientific Solutions received
a new permit to test its sonar in late December and began testing
in Pacific waters near San Luis Obispo on Jan. 6. They plan to
conduct 20 days of testing each year for five years during the
annual winter migration of gray whales.
Yesterday, the environmental groups argued that research should
be stopped again because the company and the government failed
to consider the sonar's impact on certain types of whales. They
said a species known as the harbor porpoise, which is particularly
sensitive to noise, could be scared away from their feeding
grounds, threatening their survival.
"They took the most sensitive species and buried it in
paperwork," said Lanny Sinkin, an attorney
representing the environmental groups. "The agency
prepared environmental documentation designed to allow the
experiment to proceed, despite the environmental impact."
Attorneys representing the company and the government said the
environmental assessment was conducted properly, and that
there's been no evidence of harm done to marine mammals since
testing started last week.
"The system is safe, and it was adequately reviewed before the
permit was issued," said James Arnold, an attorney representing
Scientific Solutions. "The goal is to develop a badly needed
technology to protect marine mammals, particularly whales, from
injury or even death."
The case is Australians for Animals v. National Marine Fisheries
Service, C040086.
*
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