Environmentalists angry as Navy gets OK to use sonar

Angering environmentalists, the U.S. Defense Department exempted the Navy from complying with the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the next two years so sailors can practice tracking submarines with sonar.

Environmentalists on Tuesday said the Navy was not doing enough to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals from the harmful effects of the underwater sound technology.

Navy officials said they need the exemption, allowed for under the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act, to give them enough time to conduct environmental impact statements for sonar use at major underwater training ranges off Hawaii, southern California and the East Coast.

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