Bush rules sonar key to security
WASHINGTON (AP) - January 16, 2008 The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed the
exemption Tuesday while traveling in the Middle East.
The Navy training exercises, including the use of sonar, "are
in the paramount interest of the United States" and its national
security, Bush said in a memorandum.
"This exemption will enable the Navy to train effectively and
to certify carrier and expeditionary strike groups for deployment
in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which
are essential to national security," the memo said.
The decision drew immediate criticism from environmentalists who
had fought to stop the Navy's sonar training.
"The president's action is an attack on the rule of law," said
Joel Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at
the Natural Resources Defense Council. "By exempting the Navy from
basic safeguards under both federal and state law, the president is
flouting the will of Congress, the decision of the California
Coastal Commission and a ruling by the federal court."
NRDC spokesman Daniel Hinerfeld said the group would be filing
papers with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later Wednesday
or Thursday to challenge Bush's exemption.
A federal judge in Los Angeles had issued a preliminary
injunction earlier this month requiring the Navy to create a
12-nautical-mile, no-sonar zone along the California coast and to
post trained lookouts to watch for marine mammals before and during
exercises. Sonar would have to be shut down when mammals are
spotted within 2,200 yards, under the order.
The court found that using mid-frequency active sonar violated
the Coastal Zone Management Act and Bush exempted the Navy from a
section of that act.
Complying with the environmental law would "undermine the
Navy's ability to conduct realistic training exercises that are
necessary to ensure the combat effectiveness of carrier and
expeditionary strike groups," Bush said.
The Natural Resources Defense Council had sued to force the Navy
to lessen the harm of its sonar exercises. In November, a federal
appeals court said the sonar problem needed to be fixed.
Critics contend sonar has harmful effects on whales, possibly by
damaging their hearing, and other marine mammals worldwide. The
council's lawsuit alleges the Navy's sonar causes whales and other
mammals to beach themselves.
In an argument that has been going on for years, the Navy has
continually argued that the exercises are vital for training and
that it works to minimizes the risk to marine life.
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