UPDATE: Navy releases impact report

The Navy released a large marine impact study Thursday, amidst recent allegations that training exercises off the California coast could be harming, and in some cases, killing marine life.
But this isn't the first study.
It comes after federal judges said previous environmental reports done by the Navy did not properly assess how to protect whales and dolphins from routine sonar tests.
The Pacific Ocean off of California is home to numerous marine mammals, such as the gray whale that makes its annual voyage from Alaska down south to Mexico.
According to the Environmental Impact Statement the Navy training exercises could expose 94,370 marine mammals each year to sonar frequencies loud enough to alter their behavior, potentially injuring or killing as many as 30 marine mammals including two gray whales, one blue whale, one sperm whale, 11 dolphins and 15 harbor seals," as reported in the LA Times by Kenneth Weiss.
The Navy's computer models show 817 mammals would be affected by underwater explosions used by the Navy, with 36 suffering from mild injuries and possibly 12 could be severely injured or killed, such as dolphins and sea lions that are found washed up on the beaches.
The region that the study indicates is called the Southern California Range Complex, which includes Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas and San Clemente islands from LA to Baja.
The Navy's environmental statement comes only a few months after a dolphin washed up on the shores of San Nicolas Island in late January during the final stages of the Navy's sonar exercises.
The federal court ordered last year a requirement that the Navy shutdown all sonar operations when whales are 2,200 yards within range and some spots near the Channel Islands.
But according to the Times, the Navy sees the measures as getting in the way of realistic exercise training for submarines and ships and see as reducing sonar at 1,000 yards of a marine mammal and shutting down operations at 200 yards as sufficient.
In January, President George W. Bush sided with the Navy by exempting the agency from precautions in California because of concerns to ensure effective use of "national security," angering many environmental groups, according to the New York Times and Planetark.com.
The Navy will hold a public hearing on May 1, 2008 at the Long Beach Public Library located at 101 Pacific Avenue, Civic Center Plaza.