Navy Settles Dispute Over Testing of Explosives : Channel Islands: The accord with five environmental groups requires new aerial surveys of the targeted ocean area.

Three days after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against a Navy proposal to detonate underwater explosives in an area near the Channel Islands rich with marine life, the Navy and five environmental groups have settled their legal dispute over the tests, officials said Monday.

The settlement, approved Friday by U. S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, but not announced until Monday, requires that the Navy conduct at least eight days of new aerial surveys of the proposed testing area.

Results of the survey will be compared to others taken 18 miles farther out to sea in an area environmental groups have said is a better site for the tests.

The Navy must also prepare a full environmental impact report on the proposed “ship-shock” testing--a federally mandated procedure required to test the strength of warship hulls, electronics packages and overall crew survivability in simulated battle conditions.

To simulate those conditions, the Navy in a five-year plan proposed to detonate as many 270 underwater explosives near the ships, with charges weighing as much as 10,000 pounds each.

The settlement effectively puts on hold the testing program for nine months to a year as Navy officials prepare the environmental impact report.

The five environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the agreement a victory in their quest to stop or move the testing program. Navy officials have acknowledged that the tests may kill a small number of marine mammals and harass or injure hundreds of others, some of which are listed as federally endangered.

“(This agreement) serves notice that even the military must respect and preserve our natural resources,” said Joel R. Reynolds, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Venice-based Save the Whales, American Oceans Campaign, the Humane Society of the United States and Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay joined the Natural Resources Defense Council in the suit.

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The crux of the dispute has focused on whether the tests should be conducted farther offshore in deeper waters, where the concentration of marine life is not so great.

As part of Friday’s settlement, the Navy received permission to proceed with one ship-shock test of the USS John Paul Jones, one of the Navy’s new Aegis-class destroyers. A total of four, 10,000-pound underwater detonations will be allowed under terms of the settlement.

The proposed testing area is about 20 miles southwest of Navy-owned San Nicolas Island and about 85 miles southwest of the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station in Ventura County.

Navy officials, who initially vowed to appeal Wilson’s preliminary injunction, said they could live with the terms of the agreement brokered late Friday.

“We are pleased that a suitable compromise was worked out,” said Lt. Cmdr. Frank Thorp, a Navy surface fleet spokesman in San Diego. “What we are not pleased about is some of the characterizations that have labeled us as not caring about the marine environment. The truth is that we have gone to extraordinary lengths and costs to reduce the risks posed to marine mammals during these tests.”

Scott Smullen, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent group of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which granted the Navy authorization for the tests, said the agency is pleased that environmentalists and the government could reach an agreement.

Smullen said that the protection of marine mammals was the critical issue and that the agreement between the fisheries service and the Navy will ensure those protections.

“Nearly 20 marine mammal and sea bird experts, including those with the Natural Resources Defense Council, will be on three aircraft and the test ship itself in order to perform extensive surveys and provide unprecedented protection,” Smullen said. “That’s what’s important.”

“This settlement is a very positive step in recognizing the importance of enforcing our environmental laws in protecting the marine ecosystem, especially in sensitive areas such as the Channel Islands,” said Lisa Weil, policy director for American Oceans Campaign.

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Thorp said a testing date for ship-shock testing of the John Paul Jones has not yet been set, but that the ship must be tested before June 30 to meet Navy deployment schedules.

Brian Brennan, spokesman for the Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said the settlement was a positive move toward helping efforts to preserve marine life in the waters of the Channel Islands.

“I wouldn’t call it a complete victory, but considering what is on the line out there, we’ll take it,” Brennan said. “And who knows what we’ll find in the environmental review once it’s done.”