CHANNEL ISLANDS : Navy Says Tests Will Not Harm Sea Life

The Navy declared Monday that a proposed underwater explosives program designed to test the strength of warship hulls will not harm the marine environment west of the Channel Islands.

The finding was issued in connection with the Navy’s environmental assessment on proposed “ship shock” tests on a new Aegis-class destroyer, the USS John Paul Jones, said Lt. Cmdr. Frank Thorp, a Navy surface fleet spokesman in San Diego.

The test area is in waters about 60 miles west of the Ventura County coast and in a 36,000-square-mile sea test range managed by the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station.

Navy officials concede that a small number of marine mammals could be killed by the underwater detonation of four 10,000-pound explosives at various distances from the warship. The federally mandated tests are specifically designed to determine hull and internal electronics strength, and crew survivability.

Monday’s finding follows a two-week comment period on the tests, which closed April 1. The tests on the John Paul Jones are expected to be conducted next week, officials said.

The test would be the first of a five-year program, which received authorization in early February from the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under the fisheries service authorization, the Navy would be permitted to “take” as many as 9,600 marine mammals by death, injury or harassment.

The Navy’s finding Monday was released one day before a press conference scheduled by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NRDC is expected to announce that it will file a lawsuit and a request for preliminary injunction to try to stop the “ship shock” program.

According to Joel Reynolds, senior attorney with the nonprofit group, the lawsuit naming both the Navy and National Marine Fisheries Service will seek to invalidate the fisheries service’s letter of authorization.