Navy Declines Permit for Underwater Detonations : Channel Islands: Action is welcomed by environmentalists, who feared testing program would kill scores of mammals.

After receiving permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service to detonate underwater explosives that could injure or kill a small number of marine mammals west of the Channel Islands, the Navy on Thursday abruptly declined to accept the permit.

At the Navy’s request, the fisheries service has placed an indefinite hold on a permit authorizing the “ship-shock” testing program, said Pat Montanio, chief of the service’s Marine Mammal Division.

“The Navy told us that for now they would decline the (permit),” Montanio said. “I think that it would be fair to say that the concerns expressed by environmental groups were the driving force behind the Navy’s decision.”

The program is designed to test the strength of ship hulls and on-board electronics of the Navy’s new Aegis-class warships in waters about 65 miles west of the Channel Islands.

But environmentalists fear the testing program would lead to the deaths of scores of marine mammals. The area is home to a wide variety of dolphins, seals, sea lions and whales, some of which are listed as federally endangered.

Navy surface fleet officials in San Diego, the branch of the service responsible for the testing program, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

But an official at Point Mugu said the Navy was willing to delay the testing to address the concerns on the safety of marine mammals.

“The Navy is trying to ensure that everyone who is concerned about the testing have adequate information and assurances from us about our commitment to conduct an environmentally safe program,” spokesman Alan Alpers said.

Montanio said complaints from the National Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental group that threatened to file a lawsuit against the Navy, may have contributed to the Navy’s decision to decline the permit. Based on talks with the defense resources council, Navy officials earlier this week had agreed to postpone the testing program until at least April 2.

Joel Reynolds, a senior staff attorney in the defense resources council’s Los Angeles office, called the decision “a significant step in the right direction. The Navy told us that the program is on indefinite hold and right now, we are feeling a lot of relief around here. We think the Navy made a wise choice.”

Reynolds said his organization had been preparing to take the Navy to court to stop the tests, which officials have acknowledged would involve a small “incidental take” or killing of marine mammals.

A legal team representing the resources defense council and several other national environmental groups will meet with Navy officials in Los Angeles Thursday to continue discussions on the situation, Reynolds said.

The “ship-shock” testing procedure involves the detonation of underwater explosives as large as 10,000 pounds at various distances from the vessels. But before each test and under terms of the permit, extensive aerial surveys to spot marine mammals are to be conducted. If animals are sighted, the tests would be moved or delayed.

Representatives of other Southern California environmental groups were cautiously optimistic about the Navy’s decision.

“The Navy is showing some intelligence,” said Alan Godley, a Ventura-based environmental activist. “Perhaps they sensed that there was a gathering storm on this issue. I think this is a victory for all the people who got involved and let their concerns be known.”

But Maris Sidenstecker II, co-founder of the Venice-based Save the Whales, had a slightly more cynical view of the decision.

“I think a lot of it had to do with the fisheries service not wanting to come off like the bad guy--I’m sure they were privately very happy at the Navy’s decision,” Sidenstecker said. “We won’t be happy until they decide to scrap (the testing) plan, or at the very least move it somewhere where marine mammals won’t be hurt.”