By Xinhua
Los Angeles : Environmentalists reacted with anger Wednesday to US President George W. Bush’s decision to allow the Navy to use sonar off the coast of Southern California.
Bush signed the exemption while he was travelling in the Middle East, claiming the Navy’s training was “essential to national security”, the White House said earlier Wednesday.
While criticizing Bush’s decision, Daniel Hinerfeld, leader of the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) said: “We think these waivers are illegal. It’s an attempt by the Bush administration once again to act as if it’s above the law, and it’s not.”
The NRDC will contest the waivers before the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals, he said.
Environmentalists claim that the mid-frequency active sonar used by the Navy during its exercises harms marine life and causes beaching of whales.
The Navy said the tests were crucial for training its sailors in detecting quiet submarines.
On Jan 4, US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the Navy to stop using the sonar when marine mammals are within 2,200 yards, and to monitor its test area for one hour before the tests to make sure that no marine wildlife is in the area.
Cooper’s ruling allowed the Navy to conduct exercises within about 19 km of the coast. Environmentalists had asked for a 40-km exclusion zone.
But a Navy official said in a statement that it already has 29 protective measures in place to preserve marine wildlife and that Cooper’s order created “a significant and unreasonable risk” that it would not be able to use sonar in its training exercises.
“We cannot in good conscience send American men and women into potential trouble spots without adequate training to defend themselves,” said Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead.
Reacting to the president’s decision, California Coastal Commissioner Sara Wan said: “There is absolutely no justification for this. This is a slap in the face to Californians who care about the oceans”.
The Navy has also been accused of failing to conduct sufficient environmental analysis of sonar exercises and of not complying with the Coastal Zone Management Act, which requires the federal government to follow state coastal plans as much as possible.