Panel Rejects Navy Plan Pending Civilian Study

The California Coastal Commission told the Navy on Tuesday it will not approve expansion of a radar weapons testing center unless a civilian-led public health study is completed.

The commission, meeting here, and the military have been at odds over plans to expand the 15-year-old Surface Warfare Engineering Facility at the entrance to the Port of Hueneme. Residents at Silver Strand Beach, too, have concerns that high-energy radio waves beamed from the facility during tests of warship radar and weapons systems could cause skin burns, cataracts or brain damage.

The Navy has applied to the commission, which administers the Coastal Zone Management Act, for permits to install new lasers, microwave beams, satellite transceivers and other equipment. The weapons center would become the largest electronic warfare test center on the West Coast.

An independent panel of scientists that reviewed the proposal concluded last month that although the facility would pose no risk to people or wildlife, precautions are required to ensure safety. On Tuesday, the Navy, under pressure from the commission, agreed to three restrictions, but did not assent to a fourth dealing with a health survey.

The commission has said that as a condition for approval, the Navy must agree by Friday to develop a public exposure study to determine whether people working and living near the five-story test center are exposed to harmful radio frequency energy levels. At least one member of the science advisory panel urged such a study.

But the Navy balked at the requirement, insisting that any such study should be controlled by Department of Defense personnel, said Peter Douglas, executive director for the Coastal Commission. The Navy could not be reached for comment after the meeting, which lasted late into the evening.

“No one is trying to end the use of this facility. It’s a matter of using this facility and equipment safely,” said Lee Quaintance, a director of the Beacon Foundation, an Oxnard group challenging the Navy’s plan.