Legal battle over Navy sonar is settled out of court
January 6th, 2009 by cdunaganThe ongoing legal battle over the Navy’s use of mid-frequency sonar was ended with an out-of-court settlement while I was on vacation over Christmas break.
An Associated Press report by Audrey McAvoy, carried by several newspapers, covered only the Navy’s perspective, because the Navy announced the agreement on a Saturday.
Read on down below for the story I wrote for Wednesday’s Kitsap Sun.
If you’d like to peruse the settlement agreement (PDF 2.5 mb), you can download a copy from the Kitsap Sun’s Web site, although I’m told it will eventually be posted on the Web site of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
To understand the context, check out the Navy’s news
release as well as a news release from
NRDC.
Navy Agreement Settles Sonar Lawsuits
By Christopher Dunagan
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The U.S. Navy has agreed to spend nearly $15 million to study the harmful effects of sonar on whales and other marine mammals.
The commitment to an extensive research investigation is part of a legal settlement between the Navy and several environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Navy and the environmental groups have been engaged in courtroom battles for more than three years. The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to second-guess Navy commanders in their use of sonar, pending completion of a full environmental review.
The settlement document establishes a schedule for preparing environmental impact statements for Navy operations around the world. The agreement does not address possible restrictions on the use of sonar.
Navy officials say the agreement basically implements a research program that is already under way.
“The Navy is pleased that after more than three years of extensive litigation, this matter has been brought to an end on favorable terms,” Frank R. Jimenez, the Navy’s general counsel, said in a statement. “The Navy welcomes an approach that relies more upon scientific research than litigation.”
Joel Reynolds, director of NRDC’s marine mammal program, said the Navy agreed in the settlement document that sonar can injure and kill whales and other sea life. The Navy agreed to share its findings with the public, including documents never made public before.
“Finally,” Reynolds said, “while it does not resolve disagreements with the Navy over operational safeguards required to reduce sonar’s risk to whales and other marine life, it sets in place a process for negotiation between the Navy and this environmental coalition that we hope will reduce the need for future litigation.”
The Navy agreed to pay $1.1 million in attorneys fees for settling a 2005 nationwide lawsuit and a 2006 case focused on Hawaiian operations.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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