Reply #49: Statement from the NRDC. [View All]

[Kajsa]

After the shock of this deplorable ruling,


http://www.nrdc.org/media/2008/081112.asp

Supreme Court Limits Protection for Whales from Navy Sonar

Four measures to safeguard marine mammals remain in place

WASHINGTON, DC (November 12, 2008) – Today, the nation’s highest court issued its decision regarding the Navy’s use of mid-frequency active sonar during training exercises in southern California.

"The Supreme Court held that the lower courts did not properly balance the competing interests at stake, and struck down two significant safeguards that reduce harm to whales from high-intensity sonar training,” said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney and director of NRDC’s marine mammal program. “The decision places marine mammals at greater risk of serious and needless harm. However it is a narrow ruling that leaves in place four of the injunction’s six safeguards. It is significant that the court did not overturn the underlying determination that the Navy likely violated the law by failing to prepare an environmental impact statement.”
"It is gratifying that the court did not accept the Navy’s expansive claims of executive power, and that two thirds of the injunction remains intact,” said Richard Kendall, NRDC co-counsel.
The Navy acknowledges that sonar can be deadly to marine mammals, and that the exercises at issue would “take” an estimated 170,000 marine mammals, including causing permanent injury to more than 500 whales and temporary deafness to at least 8,000 whales.