Navy Sued Over Underwater Test Blast Plans : Environment: Five groups contend that explosives could harm marine life. Detonations are scheduled to start this month.

Five environmental groups sued the Navy on Tuesday, saying a proposal to test ship-hull strength by detonating underwater explosives in waters southwest of the Channel Islands could harm marine life in the area.

After weeks of fruitless negotiations with the Navy, the groups filed suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the testing, which is scheduled to start later this month.

Navy officials acknowledge that the testing may result in the deaths of a small number of marine mammals, but insist that it is environmentally safe.

The tests involve the detonation of underwater explosives as large as 10,000 pounds each to determine the strength of the Navy’s new Aegis-class destroyers, their electronics equipment and overall crew survivability under simulated battle conditions.

The suit also names the National Marine Fisheries Service for granting the Navy a permit for the tests, which may involve as many as 270 detonations over a five-year period. Fisheries service officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

At the crux of the dispute is the proposed location for the tests, an area roughly 20 miles south of Navy-owned San Nicolas Island and about 85 miles southwest of the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station, where the tests will be monitored.

“The Navy could scarcely have chosen a richer marine environment in which to test its ships,” said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is coordinating the legal challenge. “Detonating heavy explosives near the Channel Islands (National Marine Sanctuary) makes as much sense as testing dynamite in the Sistine Chapel.”

Joining the resources defense council in the suit are the Humane Society of the United States, Save the Whales, American Oceans Campaign and Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay.

Navy officials say aerial surveys they have conducted in the test area during the past several months show there are relatively few marine mammals there. On Tuesday, they expressed disappointment over the groups’ decision to file a lawsuit.

“We feel that we have gone to extraordinary lengths to gather the scientific data showing this area is the best-suited for the tests,” said Lt. Cmdr. Frank Thorp, a Navy surface fleet spokesman in San Diego. “In fact, we believe that we have compiled the most extensive marine biological survey in recent history.”

Because of that data, Thorp said Navy officials see no reason to stop or delay the tests.

But the environmental groups opposing the plan disagree, saying the area is teeming with marine life, including some federally endangered species. Over the course of the proposed five-year testing period, 9,600 marine mammals could be harassed, injured or killed as a result of the tests, Navy documents show.

The Navy last month announced that it will seek, at first, to “ship shock” test only one vessel, the John Paul Jones. Under a revised environmental assessment compiled for the Jones last month, Navy officials said the ship would be exposed to only four detonations, using 10,000-pound explosives. On Monday, the Navy certified the environmental assessment, saying the four tests would have no significant impact on the environment.

But according to Reynolds, the attempt by the Navy to switch to testing just one vessel is a smoke screen designed to lessen the public’s concern over the testing program.

“Our suit challenges the whole five-year program,” Reynolds said. “Regardless of whether it’s four detonations or 270 detonations, it’s still the same program and we aim to stop it because of the danger that it presents to marine mammals.”

The lawsuit also contends that both the Navy and the fisheries service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Environmental Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by proceeding with the testing.

Alan Godley, a local environmental activist and a spokesman for the Ventura County chapter of the Earth Island Institute, a nonprofit environmental group, said he was initially optimistic because the Navy agreed to meet with environmental groups over the issue.

“I thought for once that the Navy was showing some real concern for the marine environment,” Godley said. “But obviously, their concern was not legitimate. It’s too bad that it will take a lawsuit to make them do what they should have done on their own.”

Brian Brennan, a spokesman for the Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said he also was disappointed that the groups felt compelled to file a lawsuit over the issue.

“Early on it seemed that they were actually taking our concerns seriously,” Brennan said. “Now it seems that they were just attempting to placate us by meeting with us.”

NEXT STEP

A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles will hear arguments from the U.S. Navy and attorneys representing the environmental groups in the lawsuit April 20. Navy officials have agreed to postpone the first “ship shock” test until at least April 24.