[CPEO-MEF] Judge orders naval sonar delay

[ramcnally@nasw.org]

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the U.S. Navy from
deploying a submarine-hunting sonar system that environmentalists argue
could harm whales and dolphins.

Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte said, however, that the Navy must be
allowed to train with the system. She ordered both sides back to court
Nov. 7 to develop a plan that would allow the Navy to train with the
sonar during the eight months before the case goes to trial in June.

It was the latest skirmish in a dispute between the Navy and
environmentalists in a suit brought by the Natural Resources Defense
Council and the Humane Society of the United States.

For the full story, see
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/01/MN224060.DTL

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Robert Aquinas McNally, Writer & Editor
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ramcnally@nasw.org

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