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Feds grant Navy permit for sonar training
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/12/feds-grant-navy-permit-sonar-trainingFeds grant Navy permit for sonar training
By Julie Watson
The Associated Press
© December 16, 2013
SAN DIEGO
Environmental organizations filed a lawsuit Monday against the National Marine Fisheries Service to demand it force the Navy to consider alternatives to its five-year plan that will intensify its sonar use off Southern California and Hawaii.
Earthjustice, representing several groups, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Honolulu, only hours after the federal agency announced it had decided to grant the Navy permits to move ahead with its plans for training and testing in the Pacific.
Navy officials estimate its activities would have a negligible impact on marine mammal populations.
Environmentalists dispute that and favor creating zones that would be off-limits to biologically sensitive areas. They also want the Navy to avoid training in certain spots seasonally when they are rich in marine life.