Environmentalists Sue to Block Navy Tests of Hulls : Military: Five groups claim detonation of explosives in waters near the Channel Islands could harm marine life. The Navy says it will be environmentally safe.

Five environmental groups sued the Navy on Tuesday, saying a proposal to test ship hull strength by detonating underwater explosives 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 the testing is environmentally safe.

The tests involve the detonation of underwater explosives as large as 10,000 pounds to determine how well the Navy’s new Aegis-class destroyers, their electronic equipment and their crews would hold up under battle conditions.

At the crux of the dispute is proposed the location of the testing, 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 with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is coordinating the legal challenge with the other environmental groups. “Detonating heavy explosives near the Channel Islands (National Marine Sanctuary) makes as much sense as testing dynamite in the Sistine Chapel.”

Along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Humane Society of the United States, Save the Whales, the American Oceans Campaign and Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay jointly filed the lawsuit.

Navy officials, who say their aerial surveys show there are relatively few marine mammals in the area, expressed disappointment over the decision of the groups 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 spokesman.

But the environmental groups say the area is teeming with marine life, including some on the federal list of 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, the groups say.

The suit also names the National Marine Fisheries Service for granting the Navy a permit for the tests. Fisheries service officials could not be reached for comment.