[Peacectr_list] Navy Mid-Frequency Active (MFA) Sonar Action Alert!

Fri Apr 25 14:17:51 UTC 2008

Navy Mid-Frequency Active (MFA) Sonar Action Alert!

The Navy has released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
for its Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training (AFAST). Public comments 
are needed!

AFAST activities will be conducted from the Gulf of Maine down along 
the East Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Navy ships, submarines, 
and aircraft deploy high-intensity MFA sonar and other intense 
acoustic devices for antisubmarine warfare and mine warfare training.

Naval high-intensity MFA sonars have now been implicated in the mass 
strandings and deaths of whales, dolphins and porpoises in numerous 
incidents around the world stretching back for five decades. There is 
also compelling evidence indicating that marine mammals are not the 
sonar's only victims. The increasing usage of sonar, along with other 
human generated ocean noise such as shipping, and oil exploration and 
development, has drastically raised noise levels in the oceans, where 
many fish and other marine species rely on sound and hearing ability 
for survival. Yet the Navy proposes to continue its sound blasting 
without offering any meaningful protective measures for life in the 
oceans.

Many of you may have heard news of the ongoing court battles being 
waged over similar Navy exercises off the southern California coast 
and Hawaii. The Navy may not be particularly interested in the 
public's concerns about this issue, but the courts have been,

and it has been an important factor in the successes of these lawsuits.

Comments need not be long or technical. Please, take 5, 10, or 15 
minutes to state your concerns and submit them as written comments. 
The environmental damage of AFAST will likely only be brought under 
control through a lawsuit, and the courts need to see the public's 
concern and outrage at this madness.

The Navy AFAST DEIS can be seen here; http://afasteis.gcsaic.com/index.aspx

You can submit comments online at this website, or by mail or fax;

Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic Division

Attention: Code EV22 (Atlantic Fleet Sonar Project Manager)

6506 Hampton Blvd.

Norfolk, VA 23508-1278

Fax: (888) 875-6781

The deadline for public comments is March 31, 2008. Please write soon!

A Few Points to Keep in Mind:

n                  MFA sonar has been closely linked with numerous 
mass-stranding events around the globe.

n                  The DEIS noise thresholds for temporary threshold 
shift (temporary hearing loss) and for physical injury are far, far 
too high. In the real world, marine animals will experience these 
effects at much lower noise levels, and in far greater numbers than 
estimated by the DEIS. These thresholds have been based on flawed 
assumptions.

n                  The DEIS concludes that Navy mitigation measures 
will protect marine mammals during AFAST activities. But this 
conclusion, like others throughout the DEIS, is based on flawed 
assumptions. These measures depend  entirely on visually spotting 
marine mammals (and sea turtles). However, many of these animals can 
remain submerged for extended durations, some for well over an hour. 
Some species are notoriously hard to detect at the surface even under 
the best observation conditions. And because AFAST exercises will be 
occurring during varying sea and weather conditions both day and 
night, the Navy's mitigation measures are absolutely ineffective. 
Similar measures used by the  Navy in its sonar exercises off 
California  have been described by a federal judge ruling on these 
exercises as being "woefully inadequate and ineffectual."

n                  The critically endangered North Atlantic right 
whale will be pushed even closer  to the brink of extinction by 
AFAST,  as some of these exercises will be taking place in and near 
their breeding, feeding and calving grounds, and along their 
migratory route. Other  endangered species likely to be impacted are 
humpback, sei, fin, blue, and sperm whales, manatees, and sea turtles.

n                  There is growing evidence that naval sonars and 
other sources of intense underwater noise are harming fish, and 
therefore threaten fisheries.

n                  A growing number of governmental and scientific 
bodies have expressed concern over the environmental impacts of naval 
active sonars and other sources of intense underwater noise. Some of 
these are the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling 
Commission, the United Nations Law of the Sea deliberations, the 
European Union Parliament, and the IUCN-World Conservation Union.

n                  The Navy needs to wake up to the fact that 
environmental destruction also affects our national security, and the 
security of all life on the planet.

Thank You for Writing!

For more information, contact Russell Wray of Citizens Opposing 
Active Sonar Threats (COAST) at 207-422-8273 or: 7coast at adelphia.net

-- 
The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine
170 Park Street
Bangor ME 04401
(207) 942-9343
fax 992-2288
email: info at peacectr.org
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