Activists Miss Hearing on Ocean Tests : Channel Islands: Environmentalists angry they could not protest Navy’s plan to detonate explosives underwater.

Ventura County environmental activists on Tuesday expressed anger that they were not informed of their only opportunity on the West Coast to protest a Navy proposal to conduct tests with underwater explosives in the wildlife-abundant ocean west of the Channel Islands.

The meeting at the Long Beach Renaissance Hotel on Monday night surprised many Ventura and Santa Barbara county activists, who said they were robbed of a chance to register their protests against the controversial proposal.

“There are a lot of people very upset about this,” said Alan Godley, owner of the Blue Dolphin store in Ventura and a spokesman for the Ventura County chapter of the Earth Island Institute. “Something like this should have been advertised far and wide and it wasn’t.”

In its proposal, the Navy seeks permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service for a “small incidental take” of marine mammals during “ship-shock” testing of warship hulls and electronics in waters west of the Channel Islands.

The proposed testing procedure calls for the underwater detonation of conventional explosives weighing between one and 10,000 pounds over a five-year testing period.

Although both Navy and fisheries service scientists believe the actual numbers of marine mammals killed or injured by the tests would be small, the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act mandates that any policy that could lead to accidental death, injury or harassment of endangered mammals must first be approved by the fisheries service.

Scores of seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises and whales thrive in the area, which is a part of the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Center’s expansive sea test range.

Godley said he believes he was the only Ventura County-based activist to attend the hearing. He said that he learned about the meeting from a friend who happened to have read about it in the Federal Register, an official publication that chronicles the federal government’s operations.

“I think these folks are going to experience a tremendous amount of heat if they don’t open this thing up,” Godley said. “It’s a long drive from Ventura to Long Beach. I can’t imagine what they were thinking about short of wanting to quiet the opposition to this proposal.”

But according to Scott Smullen, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)--the parent organization of the fisheries service--the date, time and reason for the hearing were given in legal notices published in the classified sections of daily newspapers across a wide area of California.

In addition, he said, news releases were mailed to reporters and editors of the newspapers informing them of the hearing.

“I don’t know much more we could have done,” Smullen said. “We were not trying to hide the hearing.”

But Smullen could not explain why Long Beach was selected as a hearing site when the bombing area lies an estimated 65 miles off the coast of Ventura County, or whether the fisheries service officials attempted to send notices to local environmental groups informing them of the hearing.

Navy officials associated with the proposed tests could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The Navy plans to try to limit the number of mammal deaths or injuries by looking for marine mammals during aerial surveys before and during the testing procedure.

Meanwhile, many environmental groups said they would look into the matter or will forward letters of protest to the fisheries service during a public comment period that ends Nov. 29.

“Expecting people to look in the back of the newspaper in the classifieds in order to find out about a public hearing is ridiculous,” said Brian Brennan, a board member of the Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. “It’s my opinion that they probably met the letter of the law, but I sure think they violated the spirit of the law.”

Other environmental groups that reported Tuesday that they had not heard of the hearing included the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara, the Ormond Beach Observers, the Coastal Resources Center and the Ventura County Environmental Coalition.

According to Cynthia Leake of the Ventura County Environmental Coalition, not getting proper notices from government for critical hearings has started to be a problem for many environmental groups.

“I’d like to say it’s typical,” Leake said. “I can’t help but think they are doing it on purpose. If it’s not just plain mean, it’s sloppy and they should be called on it.”

During Monday’s meeting, a parade of about two dozen environmentalists and marine biologists representing local and national groups decried the proposal. Included in the protests were written statements by actresses Linda Blair and Loretta Swit.

Fisheries service officials said that a second and last hearing will be held Nov. 15 in Silver Spring, Md. A final decision on the Navy’s request is expected by early next year.

FYI

The National Marine Fisheries Service is accepting written comments until Nov. 29 on the Navy’s proposal to conduct tests using underwater explosives that could kill some marine mammals. Comments can be sent to William W. Fox Jr., Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Md. 20910.