Navy’s active sonar WAILUKU >> Several environmental groups in Hawaii are challenging the U.S. Navy's attempt to seek a federal permit for transmitting low-frequency sounds underwater to detect foreign submarines.
test poses danger,
groups say
The public has until Tuesday
to help get a hearing
on the planReview Navy plan, proposed federal rule
By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin"It's environmentally dangerous, and there's no national need for it," said Big Island attorney Lanny Sinkin, who has represented environmental groups against the sonar deployment.
Sinkin said sonar devices have had an adverse effect on whales in the past, and the Navy can use a passive sonar system to detect foreign submarines.
The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a proposed rule March 19 that would allow the Navy to deploy low-frequency active sonar devices in the ocean from four ships.
The federal agency has asked for written comments on the proposal, postmarked no later than May 3.
The agency is giving the public until Tuesday to submit comments on whether a public meeting should be held on the proposed rule.
The Navy has spent an estimated $350 million on the project since 1987, including $15 million for an environmental impact statement assessing the effect upon marine life.
Under the proposed federal rules, the Navy would be allowed to operate away from near-shore areas on four ships with long-range, low-frequency sonar within a five-year period.
The sonar device, capable of detecting foreign submarines more than 100 miles away, would transmit a low-frequency sound for about a minute, then halt for six to nine minutes before repeating itself.Joseph Johnson, a consultant for the Navy, said the sound, about 215 decibels, would be equivalent to if not greater than a jet engine.
Johnson said the Navy plans to lessen the impact through halting sonar transmissions if marine mammals are detected within 1,000 yards.
Johnson said the Navy disagrees that the threat of submarine warfare has gone away.
He estimated there were 600 to 750 submarines worldwide owned by a number of countries, including China, Libya, Iran and North Korea. Johnson said low-frequency active sonar offers the best long-range detection for the Navy.
Sinkin said beaked-whale strandings occurred last March in the Bahamas as a result of mid-frequency Navy sonar and in the Mediterranean during NATO exercises in 1996.
He said during tests of low-frequency sonar in the last several years, boat captains have seen whales fleeing the area.
Sinkin said environmental groups are urging Congress to hold oversight hearings about the Navy's anti-submarine warfare program, including the use of sonar devices.
Paul Achitoff, managing attorney for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund in Hawaii, said the evidence suggests that low-frequency active sonar is harmful to marine life.
"We feel the Navy has consistently ignored the evidence and is intent on deploying the system, regardless of its impact, and we're opposed to it."
Navy officials said environmentalists are ignoring the evidence derived from several years of study.
Peter Tyack, the senior scientist with the Woodshole Oceanographic Institution, said that during the Navy tests, whales responded somewhat to the low-frequency active sonar if they were less than 1,000 yards away.
Tyack said the reaction was no more than their response to the approach of a whale-watching boat.
He said the impact of low-frequency active sonar upon whales is considerably less when the sonar devices are used in deep ocean and away from near-shore areas.
Tyack said he is personally more concerned about the risk of mid-frequency sonars that are used on almost every surface warship than the proposal for deploying low-frequency sonar on four ships.
"I don't think this poses more of a risk than the sonars that have been used for decades," Tyack said.
Sinkin is scheduled to be the guest speaker at a meeting of environmentalists April 11 at Unity Church in Wailuku. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.
Comments may be sent to Donna Wieting, chief, Marine Mammal Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226.
A copy of the Navy's application for a federal permit for transmitting low-frequency sounds underwater to detect foreign submarines is available by calling Kenneth R. Hollingshead, (301) 713-2322, ext. 128. Review Navy plan, proposed federal rule
A proposed rule by the National Marine Fisheries Service that would allow the Navy to deploy low-frequency active sonar devices in the ocean may be viewed by accessing the fisheries service's Web site at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR2/Acoustics_ Program/LFAfr.pdf.
The Navy's Web site is http://www.surtass-lfa-eis.com.
Gary T. Kubota, Star-Bulletin