THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 75 lines
The Navy is eyeing ocean waters at least 29 miles off Virginia Beach and 42 miles off Mayport, Fla., as places where it might detonate 10,000-pound explosives to shock-test its newest submarine, the Seawolf.
Mayport is its first choice, because the potential danger to marine life is eight times smaller than off Virginia's shores, according to a Navy draft environmental assessment. The service already has eliminated testing at three other sites, off Groton, Conn., Key West, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.
The Seawolf, the first in its class of three new fast attack submarines, is scheduled to be commissioned later this summer. Work on additional subs of the class cannot proceed beyond initial production until realistic survivability testing of the Seawolf is completed, the Navy said.
As proposed, the Navy would expose the 350-foot vessel to a series of five underwater explosions in 500 feet of water, in a test geared to simulate combat conditions. The submarine would be moved closer to the source of the blast each time. The tests would take place between May 1 and Sept. 30, 1997.
The detonations would kill or injure fish, sea turtles, marine mammals and possibly birds near the test zone, the Navy's study said.
At Mayport, the report predicted, one marine mammal and six sea turtles might be killed. Off the Virginia coast, the potential for killings would be greater because of the presence of more marine life.
A final specific shock-test site, within a particular area, would not be selected until two to three days before the test, based on marine mammal and turtle surveys.
The Navy plans to use shipboard and aerial monitoring, as well as the Marine Mammal Acoustic Tracking System, to identify and locate marine mammals or turtles in order to minimize risk to the animals.
``Fish and other small marine life near the detonation point would be killed or injured by the shock wave,'' the draft said. However, detonation would be postponed if large schools of fish were observed.
Specifically, small pelagic fish with swim bladders, such as dwarf herring, round scad, Atlantic menhaden and chub mackerel, are most likely to be affected if present within 4,600 feet of the blast. Larger fish such as billfish, dolphin fish, tuna and wahoo may be affected within a radius of 2,500 feet. Fish without a swim bladder, such as sharks, are unlikely to be affected unless they are within about 73 feet of the detonation.
``No impact on fish populations is expected because the species found at the Mayport and Norfolk areas are abundant and widely distributed,'' the study said.
In what the study calls the ``Norfolk area'' site, the Navy eliminated a 500-foot-deep contour passing through the proposed Norfolk Canyon Marine Sanctuary, along with a 2.5-mile buffer on either side.
The entire area north of the proposed sanctuary was eliminated because of the presence of several shipwrecks near the area. All remaining points along the 500-foot-deep contour are considered potential shock-testing sites, according to the study.
Each proposed test area would begin no closer than 29 miles from Virginia's coast or 42 miles from Florida's, and would continue 70 to 100 miles eastward.
In a 1994 West Coast test involving the guided-missile destroyer John Paul Jones, two 10,000-pound detonations resulted in ``no deaths or injuries of marine mammals,'' the study said.
The Navy will be asking for public comment through July as it prepares its final plans for the project. Public hearings also are planned for later this summer.
Ronald E. Johnson, an associate professor of Oceanography at Old Dominion University, and a Navy reserve commander, said Wednesday there was more potential for damaging marine life off the Virginia coast than in Florida.
``If they are 40 miles off Mayport then they are out in the Gulf Stream or beyond, and the Gulf Stream in that area has very little plant life,'' he said. ``Hence, you won't have fish, or things feeding on them in concentration.'' ILLUSTRATION: U.S NAVY PHOTO file
The Seawolf, the first of a revolutionary new class of fast attack
submarines, is shown during construction at the Electric Boat
Division of General Dynamics Corp. in Groton, Conn.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY SUBMARINE SEAWOLF TEST EXPLOSIVE by CNB