Court Blocks Navy Sonar Off California Coast

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 6, 2007 at 11:11 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A federal court is blocking the U.S. Navy's planned sonar testing off the Southern California Coast. A judge says the testing may harm the environment and marine mammals. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has m

A federal court is blocking the U.S. Navy's planned sonar testing off the Southern California Coast. A judge says the testing may harm the environment and marine mammals. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

A federal judge in Los Angeles issued a preliminary injunction keeping the U.S. Navy from using mid-frequency active sonar through 2009. The Navy planned to start practicing with the sonar next month in waters off Southern California. Natural Resources Defense Council Attorney Joel Reynolds says the goal is not to prevent the Navy from testing and training but to protect marine life, such as endangered blue whales.

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Reynolds: The problem is that the Navy continues to fail adequately to plan in its planning for these exercises to ensure compliance with our environmental laws."

He says the Navy could use larger safety zones to protect marine mammals close to sonar ships and avoid key whale habitat and migratory routes. Scientists say the sonar generates dangerous levels of noise pollution for marine mammals. The Navy says the mid-frequency active sonar program requires realistic and frequent training at sea.

Ed Joyce, KPBS

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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