US sonar lawsuit settlement agreed

Common sense measures will ensure that the US Navy will limit needless harm to whales and dolphins including an important sonar-free buffer around newly created Marine National Monument.

A major victory for whales and dolphins around the Hawaiian islands has recently been achieved, as conservation and animal welfare groups reached a settlement in a hard-fought lawsuit against the U.S. Navy. Increased mitigation measures will reduce needless harm to whales, dolphins and other marine life caused by high-intensity, mid-frequency sonar used during massive international war games, known as RIMPAC, which is now underway.

The settlement requires new and important safeguards that will better protect marine life from the intense sonar activities, including a sonar-free buffer zone around the Marine National Monument recently created by President Bush, and significant increases in monitoring for marine mammals during sonar exercises.

Among other things, the settlement specifically:

• Prevents the Navy from using sonar within the newly established North-western Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument or within a 25-nautical-mile sonar buffer zone around it;
  
• Requires all Navy personnel listening through underwater detection microphones to monitor for marine mammals and report the detection of any marine mammal to the appropriate watch station for action;
  
• Requires aerial surveillance for marine mammals during sonar drills and reporting of sightings to a marine mammal response officer;
  
• Requires the Navy to have at least one dedicated and three non-dedicated marine mammal observers on every surface sonar vessel during all sonar drills, and to add an additional dedicated marine mammal observer during the three exercises occurring in channels between the islands;
  
• Requires the Navy to publicize in the local Hawaii press a hotline for reporting marine mammal incidents.
  
  The recent settlement has no bearing on the lawsuit brought by NRDC and other groups last October over the Navy's use of mid-frequency sonar in other training exercises. That lawsuit is still pending in federal court in Los Angeles.
  
  While WDCS experts remain concerned about the impacts of mid-frequency sonar on cetaceans, they believe that the measures now being undertaken during this major international exercise are critical to help to ensure the protection of the whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters.
  
  This agreement shows that environmental responsibility does not have to come at the sacrifice of national security. WDCS applauds NRDC and the other conservation organisations for their efforts in securing this protection and the US Navy for agreeing to operate whilst undertaking these mitigation measures. We encourage all nations that operate active sonar to apply the same level of transparent environmental responsibility when conducting exercises.
  
  More information available on the NRDC website: www.nrdc.org

  Source: WDCS