Tag Archives: offshore wind farm
Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Declines to Halt Vineyard Wind Construction
A federal court has denied a request by members of the fishing industry to pause offshore construction of the Vineyard Wind Project (Project), the first modern utility-scale offshore wind project in the United States to receive all permits and approvals necessary to begin construction. On May 25, 2023, Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied a motion for stay, or in the alternative, for preliminary injunction,,, In Seafreeze Shoreside, Inc. et al. v. US Department of the Interior et al., the plaintiffs alleged that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and various other federal permitting agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), and a variety of other statutes and regulations by issuing the Project’s lease and its final approvals. >click to read< 16:57
North Carolina Joins Effort to Establish Regional Fisheries Mitigation for Offshore Wind Development
Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina has joined other Atlantic Coast states involved with the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind on a coordinated project to support fisheries mitigation in the development of offshore wind along the East Coast. “It is important that we work to meet our state’s offshore wind energy goals while still protecting our marine fishery industry,” said Governor Cooper. “We are committed to collaborating with other states in this effort to make sure we achieve both goals.” Currently, the Initiative is focused on establishing a framework to compensate commercial and for-hire fishermen in the event of economic impact related to offshore wind development. The goal is to develop a regional approach for administration of any financial compensation paid by developers. Economic impacts from coastal fishing in North Carolina top $4.5 billion annually. >click to read< 08:26
Ship carrying parts for offshore wind turbines arrives in New Bedford
New Bedford was once the city that lit the world, exporting vast quantities of whale oil for lamps in the early 1800s. Workers packed the docks, unloading casks of oil that had been extracted at sea from whale carcasses and brought in by a fleet of hundreds of whaling ships. Nearly two centuries later New Bedford aspires to light the world again, in a different relationship with the sea, as the offshore wind industry arrives here. On Wednesday, the vessel UHL Felicity bringing wind turbine tower sections from Portugal reached the Port of New Bedford. Once assembled out on the water this summer by developer Vineyard Wind, the turbines will stand more than 850 feet high. “There’s this sort of poetic coming-about for New Bedford as a center of energy,” Mayor Jon Mitchell said. Video, >click to read< 09:42
Feds play shell game with wind / whale impacts
NOAA is taking public comments on a massive proposal to harass large numbers of whales and other marine mammals by building a huge offshore wind complex. There is supposed to be an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed harassment, but it is not there with the proposal. We are told it is elsewhere but after searching we find that it simply does not exist. Like a shell game where the pea has been palmed, there is nothing to be found. First the bureaucratic background. The wind project is Dominion’s 2,600 MW offshore Virginia facility, which if built would be the world’s biggest. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing to issue a five year harassment authorization for the construction of this monster. >click to read< 07:36
New Bedford Port Authority weighs in on fisheries mitigation for offshore wind
New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr is calling for SouthCoast Wind to follow Vineyard Wind’s lead in support of local fisheries programs and projects. Vineyard Wind is closing in on construction of its wind farm. “Similar to Vineyard Wind, SouthCoast Wind has deployed a robust fisheries liaison program staffed by professionals that truly know the commercial fishing industry,” he said. The New Bedford Port Authority is a member of an advisory panel established by Vineyard Wind. “It is difficult to determine the areas most impacted given the many unknowns related to offshore wind effects on the ocean ecosystem and the fishery,” he said. >click to read< 07:39
Offshore wind moves forward amid calls for marine life studies
The offshore wind sector is taking shape every day in New Jersey while calls continue for a pause in activity to learn more about whether any of the work is connected to whale and dolphin deaths along the state’s beaches. “Today’s actions by NJDEP represent significant milestones and critical steps that are needed to advance the state’s first offshore wind project and bring clean, reliable energy and the associated economic benefits to the region,” said Maddy Urbish, Ørsted’s head of government affairs and market strategy, New Jersey. Ocean Wind 1 still needs additional state and local approvals, as well as clearance from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, before construction can begin. So far, the work has centered on ocean floor mapping using sonar technology. Those calling for the pause point to this work as a potential link, saying that the sonar can disorient marine life. >click to read< 11:31
Fisherman asks court to quash licence to investigate offshore wind farm sites
A fisherman is asking the High Court to quash a licence allowing a renewable energy firm to investigate sites off the coast of Dublin and Wicklow in connection with a proposed €1.5 billion offshore wind farm. On Friday, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys gave permission for Ivan Toole, of Ashford, Co Wicklow, and his company, Golden Venture Fishing Limited, of the same address, to bring their action against the Minister of State with responsibility for planning and local government over his granting of the foreshore licence to RWE last January. RWE proposes to undertake geotechnical and geophysical site investigations, including drilling boreholes, and to monitor wind and waves to refine its design of the Dublin Array offshore wind farm, says Mr Toole. >click to read< 10:05
R.I. fishermen threaten legal action over South Fork wind farm
A group of fishermen in Rhode Island is threatening to sue the state’s coastal agency, the federal government, and developer Ørsted over the under-development of the South Fork wind farm in federal waters off Rhode Island. The Fishermen’s Advisory Board and the individual fishers it represents said in a letter Wednesday that the deal to approve the South Fork wind farm did not adequately compensate them for their losses. Making matters worse, they say, a fishing vessel working on the project broadcast over a radio channel used for emergency and distress calls in April that nobody was allowed within a mile and a half of either side of recent work to construct the project’s cable. >click to read< 07:46
Revolution Wind offshore wind farm project clears CRMC hurdle. What’s next for the project?
The vote by the Coastal Resource Management Council moved Revolution Wind one step closer to becoming the third utility-scale offshore wind farm to be cleared for construction in America. The vote came despite objections from fishermen, who say the project and others like it will shut them out of fishing grounds and cause economic losses in their industry. Not all in the fishing industry are against the project. David Yerman, a Connecticut fisherman whose firm is employed by Ørsted and Eversource, said those in the industry can work with offshore wind developers. “Offshore wind development is not a threat to commercial fishing,” he said. “It is an opportunity.” But every other person from the fishing industry that spoke voiced opposition to the application. >click to read< 09:49
Ocean City, Wind Farm Developer Clash in Legal Fight
The Danish energy company Orsted, which plans to build the Ocean Wind project, filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on May 4 demanding that Ocean City should grant the permits needed for the underground transmission line. In response to the lawsuit, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian issued a statement strongly criticizing Orsted. “The lawsuit continues a pattern that Ocean Wind presumes the offshore wind project is a done deal and they will resort to any means to maintain their desired schedule,” Gillian said. >click to read< 14:50
New Bedford’s fishing community is working with Vineyard Wind. Here’s how.
For Captain Tony Alvernaz, accepting a job doing safety work for Vineyard Wind has provided added income for his family and the families of the people who work for him. They are monitoring the work zone for Vineyard Wind as the company proceeds with turbine installation and at the same time are helping get the word out to other fishermen, according to Crista Bank, the fisheries manager at Vineyard Wind. Bank said the involvement of fishing vessels in the project is really important and that the same opportunities are offered to a single vessel owner, a scallop owner with a couple of boats or vessels that are up to international standards. “We’re trying to make sure we’re contracting with all different sized vessels and vessel owners,” she said. >click to read< 08:10
Wind energy developer funneled cash to Dem senator pushing offshore wind
A multibillion-dollar energy developer has wired tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s campaign in recent years while aggressively pushing a massive offshore wind project. The Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Energy’s political action committee (PAC) has funneled $23,000 to Kaine for Virginia since 2011, with the latest, a $1,500 contribution, coming in February. In that same time span, Dominion Energy has given another $44,500 to Common Ground PAC, the leadership PAC affiliated with and chaired by Kaine. Since 2021, Dominion Energy executives led by CEO Robert Blue and Senior Vice President William Murray have donated $19,600 to Kaine’s campaign. At the same time, lobbyists who Dominion has contracted made payments totaling $3,000 to the campaign. >click to read< 08:03
Md. Gov. Signs Offshore Wind Legislation Into Law
Last Friday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources (POWER) Act into law. Joined by representatives of offshore wind energy companies at the Tradepoint Atlantic facility in Sparrows Point, Moore highlighted several bills that will allow Maryland to reach its clean energy goals.” Today I’ve signed legislation to quadruple Maryland’s offshore wind energy goals, reduce greenhouse gas emission in our state, and to provide rebates to businesses that purchase electric vehicles,” he said. “Together we will build on the great work of our partners at Tradepoint Atlantic, Ørsted, and U.S. Wind to build the clean energy future we want to see in Maryland.” >click to read< 14:43
Fewer turbines but more conflict for Revolution Wind farm
The fishing industry and offshore wind developers are again at odds over how a mammoth array of 80-story-high wind turbines will affect ocean species, and the fishermen whose livelihoods depend on them. And without consensus on the potential damage, the two sides also can’t agree on what measures – including money – are enough to offset the harm caused by the Revolution Wind project. Even a 33% cut to the number of wind turbines – from 100 to 65 – negotiated by state coastal regulators hasn’t done much to reduce conflict. Developers Orsted A/S and Eversource Energy LLC have agreed to pay $12.9 million, to commercial and charter boat fishermen to offset potential revenue losses caused by the noise, electromagnetic field waves, boulder moving and other disturbances that the towers and undersea cables cause to the delicate underwater ecosystem. >click to read< 08:46
Ignoring dead whales, NOAA proposes another site survey off New Jersey
“Damn the whales, full speed ahead” seems to be the offshore wind policy of Biden’s NOAA. They now propose to approve yet another site survey, just 10 miles off Atlantic City. These surveys are the top suspect for the recent wave of dead whales, centered on New Jersey. The site is a big one because the offshore wind project is huge. Phase 1 is a whopping 1,500 MW, which means over 100 monster turbine towers. The survey area is around 1,500,000 acres or an incredible 2,300 square miles. Ironically the project is called Atlantic Shores, which is where all the dead whales are washing up. More deeply, the Atlantic Shores Wind Project has yet to be approved and may never be. Hugely disruptive site surveys should not be authorized until the Project is approved. >click to read< 13:57
Offshore Wind Farm Company Vinyard Wind Begins Construction
Vineyard Wind hosted a tour on Monday at the Marine Commerce Terminal in New Bedford to show members of the media and the local business leaders of One SouthCoast Chamber the early construction of the Vineyard Wind 1 Project, the first offshore commercial-scale offshore wind project in the United States. The Vineyard Wind 1 project aims to construct an 800-megawatt, 62-turbine wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The project is expected to be completed and delivering power by the end of the year. >click to read< 11:50
4 lawsuits threaten Vineyard Wind
The lawsuits against America’s first major offshore wind project are coming to a head. Four cases are challenging the federal environmental permit issued to Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine facility being planned for construction in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard. A federal judge in Massachusetts heard arguments brought by landowners in two cases in recent weeks. The other two suits, brought by fishing groups, have been consolidated and will appear before the same judge for oral arguments in Boston on Monday. The cases against Vineyard Wind allege that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conducted an inadequate environmental review when it approved the project by failing to account for its impact on everything from fishermen to the critically endangered North American right whale. >click to read< 07:32
Morro Bay – Winds of Change
The offshore wind industry is expected to grow in coming years, sourcing a global market for renewable energy. The waters off Morro Bay have been sanctioned by The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as a viable site for offshore wind development, considering the town’s existing electrical transmission capabilities. The introduction of an offshore wind farm would have devastating effects on Morro Bay due to the town’s historic reliance on the fishing industry. This project has the potential to displace fishermen and cause widespread economic harm to the community. Winds of Change explores the complexities of this case, while giving underrepresented fishermen a voice in the matter. Video, >click to watch< 10:01
EXCLUSIVE: Federal Regulator Acknowledges Danger to Wildlife Caused by Offshore Wind Farms
Captain Jerry Leeman, who heads the fishing vessel F/V Teresa Marie IV, sent a copy of the Norwegian haddock study to Nies in a January 9 letter. “Thank you for your January 9 letter … A federal fisheries council acknowledged that some power cables for offshore wind turbines could harm certain fish, according to a letter seen by the DCNF. Multiple recent studies have demonstrated that a variety of commercially popular fish can be negatively impacted by their exposure to magnetic fields emitted by high voltage direct current cables, which can confuse their ability to navigate and, in some cases, leave them exposed to predators. “We were previously aware of this study and agree that it has concerning implications for the possible effects of high voltage direct current cabling on larval behavior and resulting predation rates,” Thomas Nies, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), said in a January 18 letter. >click to read< 20:01
Few benefits seen from close-to-shore wind turbines
It’s beyond offensive for Gov. Phil Murphy to dismiss as “disinformation” the concerns of many of his constituents about a possible connection between wind energy survey work and the almost weekly occurrence of dead whales floating onto the Jersey Shore. Here are some things the governor has repeatedly failed to address: The planned wind farms, particularly those off of Long Beach Island, will have structures up to 1,000 feet tall, and will be close enough to land to be visible from beaches. For the Atlantic Shore project, they will be as few as 9 miles offshore. These hundreds of turbines proposed for three installations could bring devastating results to the state’s commercial fishing and tourism industries. >click to read< 09:19
Proposed bill would make offshore wind developers create compensation fund
The fund would provide compensation if construction or operation of a facility damages fisheries or the marine environment, and if the developer creates fewer jobs than promised in an agreement. Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, co-introduced House Bill 5223 with four Democratic state representatives, while three Republicans and two Democrats are co-sponsors. “This is new territory,” Somers said. “It’s an industrialization underneath the ocean that we have not seen before, and we do not have the data.” Somers’ district has the last commercial fishing fleet in the state, in Stonington, and she said “if the impact is such that they can no longer fish or their career is not viable, it was important for us on the committee to not prioritize one industry over another.” >click to read< 08:02
Offshore Wind Supporters Angered by ‘Misleading’ Information from R.I.-Based Opposition Group
A handful of property owners in the East Bay has been publicizing a torrent of data arguing against offshore wind projects, causing alarm and anger from oceanographers, environmental regulators, and climate activists who say the group’s arguments are wrong, misleading, and tainted with negative innuendo, false linkages, and guilt by association. The small group, called Green Oceans and organized last December as a nonprofit, believes offshore wind projects are the “industrialization of the ocean” and “100% destructive,” said one member, Bill Thompson, who owns a house in Tiverton. The group includes five other members, four of whom own houses in Little Compton and one with a Boston address. Green Oceans has produced a white paper against offshore wind, presenting 31 objections:,, >click to read< 21:00
‘This is the war’: New Bedford at center of conflict between fishing, wind industries
New Bedford is the top commercial fishing port in the country, but it’s also emerging as an epicenter of conflict between the fishing industry and the growing wind industry. “This is the war, and we’re going to lose,” said Cassie Canastra, director of operations at Base Seafood, an electronic seafood auctioning company that her father and uncle founded in 1994. Canastra called it “defeating” to watch various wind farm projects expand into vital fishing grounds. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said he wants the city to be both the top fishing port and the No. 1 hub for wind energy nationwide, though he recognizes tensions between the two industries need to be addressed. Video, >click to read< 07:45
Van Drew and Desiderio Pursue Answers on Whale Deaths, Wind Farm Issues
Congressman Jeff Van Drew and Cape May County Board of Commissioners Director Leonard Desiderio said they will work together on issues surrounding the proposed wind farms off of Cape May County. The Ocean Wind One project off Atlantic and Cape May Counties has petitioned the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to take decision-making authority away from the elected officials of Ocean City and Cape May County and give it to the owner of the project. “It was irresponsible to take home rule away from our towns and counties when it comes to decisions related to the wind farms,” Van Drew said. “Now, an unelected state board is going to push aside the representatives the voters elected. This is a terrible power grab.” >click to read< 17:08
12 Jersey Shore mayors call for moratorium on offshore wind following whale deaths
The announcement followed news that another humpback whale had died off of the coasts of New Jersey and New York and washed ashore in Lido Beach, Nassau County, New York, according to numerous reports. “While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these (offshore wind) projects may already be having on our environment,” the 12 New Jersey mayors wrote in a joint letter to Washington officials. On Saturday, a dead humpback was seen floating about 12 miles off Long Beach Island, said Andrea Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. It was not clear Monday if the Lido Beach whale could be the same one spotted off Long Beach Island. >click to read< 10:48
New Bedford’s Pope’s Island will play a key role in Vineyard Wind construction
A new partnership will meet the demand for fuel for New Bedford’s fishing industry as well as Vineyard Wind, as construction of the offshore wind farm gets under way. Vineyard Wind has signed a partnership with Shoreline Offshore, a joint venture between Quinn Fisheries and SEA.O.G Offshore, a leading integrated logistics provider, to build out a berthing and fueling area on Pope’s Island for crew transfer vessels. Shoreline Offshore was created in 2022 to connect the emerging offshore wind industry with local businesses in and around New Bedford through one central entity. Its mission is to ensure New Bedford’s local marine-based businesses are included in the continued growth of New Bedford’s marine economy. >click to read< 13:21
A Letter to the Editor: Wind farm utility causing onshore problems
New England has regional noise/vibration problems since the Block Island Wind Farm started. Indeed, one could note, regional wind turbines no longer typify “green energy.” In addition to air storage batteries being secretly installed on Beavertail in Jamestown to facilitate retention of unpredictable wind power, the regional power grid has been secretly raised to a higher power level to capture more irregular wind power for investors. However, that higher grid power has caused widespread environmental pressure, including water and sewer pipe separations, gas line issues and vibrations. Yards, floors and in-house glass vibrate. Light bulb filaments and wall clock parts have separated. >click to read< by Donna Cameron Gricus, Jamestown, R.I. 14:47
What really killed the whales? Environmental groups in New Jersey are squaring off.
Following the discovery of a 30-foot humpback whale that washed ashore in Atlantic City earlier this month, several groups including Clean Ocean Action wrote to President Biden demanding a pause on all wind-energy activity off the Jersey coast and an investigation into why a total of seven whales have perished in less than five weeks. According to Jennifer Coffey, the executive director of the New Jersey Association of Environmental Commission, suggestions that the Garden State’s plan to construct a huge wind farm out in the ocean have anything to do with the whale tragedies are unfortunate and misguided. >click to read< 08:15
From facing off with the Russian navy, to giving up a five-generation fishing tradition
For a brief moment, Alan Carleton was at the centre of a bizarre stand-off between Irish fishermen and the Russian navy. Back in January 2022, he and other fishermen had threatened to peacefully disrupt Russia’s naval plans to hold live firing exercises 240 km off the Cork coast. Himself and the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation CEO Patrick Murphy even met the Russian ambassador to demand the exercises be called off. Fast forward a year and a man who was prepared to stand up to the Russian navy is on the verge of giving up his own fight to stay in the Irish fishing industry. >click to read< 07:41
Markey, Moulton push for national fund to compensate fishermen for losses due to offshore wind
With both offshore wind development and dissent from fishing groups ramping up along the East Coast, Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton announced a plan Wednesday to establish a national fund to compensate potential economic loss suffered by the fishing industry. Currently there is no federal framework that requires offshore wind developers to compensate fishermen for potential damages. Those include gear loss, habitat degradation, loss of historic fishing grounds and new fishing restrictions in areas leased for wind farms — all of which compound, fishermen say, to spell serious economic challenges to their industry. >click to read< 19:31
