Tag Archives: Save Long Beach Island
Concerned residents file second lawsuit against New Jersey offshore wind project over noise pollution
Save Long Beach Island, a community group created in opposition to a massive offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey, filed its second lawsuit to block the construction of an Atlantic Shores South project. In its lawsuit against Atlantic Shore South Offshore Wind, Save Long Beach Island requested that the court require offshore wind developers to conduct a full “airborne noise assessment and pilot project before the project can proceed.” Bob Stern, president of Save Long Beach Island, notes how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Atlantic Shores South failed to conduct an analysis of the project’s construction and operation on generating noise pollution for residents and beachgoers. However, the Bureau of Ocean Management did find that noise from the construction of turbines would have a negative effect on marine life. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:41
Would offshore wind turbines save or ruin the Jersey Shore? Debaters rumble in Berkeley
Police officers filled Central Regional High School on Tuesday night, where tensions ran high as critics and proponents of electricity generated by offshore wind faced off with impassioned speeches during a hearing held by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Capt. Ed Baxter, a scalloper who docks at Point Pleasant Beach, said dredging to bury the power cables outside of important fishing areas, such as the Manasquan Inlet and Shark River, would have serious impacts on commercial fishermen. Rose Willis, a member of the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative of Point Pleasant Beach, said that not only would local commercial fishing companies be affected by the offshore wind project, but also many small businesses that service or buy from their industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:14
Three groups are suing New Jersey to block an offshore wind farm
Three anti-wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island. Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ filed suit in appellate court on April 26 challenging a determination by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that the Atlantic Shores wind farm project meets the requirements of a federal coastal protection law. Bruce Afran, an attorney for the groups, said the state’s “approval flies in the face of the federal regulator’s environmental impact statement that says the Atlantic Shores project will damage marine habitat, compress and harden the seafloor, damage marine communities, compromise migration corridors for endangered species, and cause commercial fishing stocks to decline.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:05
Jersey Shore mobilises against offshore wind power
Soaring costs, high interest rates and clogged supply chains have buffeted the offshore wind power industry as it tries to expand from Europe to the US east coast. Add to these another obstacle: increasingly vocal and organized opponents who live or work along the beachfront. Their campaign threatens to slow down the Biden administration’s push to reach 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030, up from a minimal amount today. They are nowhere more active than in New Jersey, whose own goal of 11GW by 2040 is the most ambitious of any eastern state. “[We] will do whatever it takes to stop this,” said Paul Kanitra, the mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. “If that means lawsuits, we’ll do lawsuits. If that means we literally need to form a flotilla and go out there and stop it ourselves, we’ll do that as well.” The opponents raise fears of harm to marine life and fisheries, and ocean views marred by spinning wind turbines. They have formed groups with names such as Protect Our Coast NJ and Save Long Beach Island. >>click to read<< 16:43
Biden Administration Is Killing Whales and Covering it Up
The Biden Administration is rushing headlong to start the massive construction of offshore wind power projects off the East Coast. The wind industry calls these installations “farms.” In no way, shape, or form do they resemble bucolic farms. Fortunately, several citizen groups have been formed which are vigorously opposing this massive industrialization of the ocean. The two leading organizations are Save Right Whales Coalition, lead by Lisa Linowes, and Save Long Beach Island, lead by Dr. Robert Stern. In addition, Michael Shellenberger has produced a terrific documentary, Thrown to the Wind, which provides an eye-opening view into the real world of noise produced by so called survey ships. Save LBI has also initiated litigation in New Jersey federal court seeking to revoke the permits issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) authorizing this pre-construction activity. By Collister Johnson. >>click to read<< 09:26
Save LBI lays out evidence for cause of whale deaths
On August 4th, 2023, Save Long Beach Island (LBI) filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the ongoing offshore wind energy vessel surveys using high intensity noise equipment until a thorough investigation could be done and new protocols developed for estimating noise impacts from wind energy development activities. On August 14th Save LBI responded to defendant and defendant-intervenor motions, laying out in detail the evidence linking the vessel surveys to the recent whale deaths. Evidence of Causation of Whale Deaths by Vessel Surveys -The federal defendant concludes that the vessel surveys are not the cause of the recent whale and dolphin deaths, and that there is no evidence linking the two. In fact, there is ample evidence leading to a conclusion that the surveys were and are the only plausible cause, as summarized below: >click to read< 12:30
Offshore wind foes in New Jersey gathering force legally and politically
Opponents of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey are gathering force legally and politically as they seek to snuff out the nascent industry. Within the last week, three residents groups sued New Jersey over a key approval of its first planned wind farm; the research arm of Congress agreed to investigate the impact of offshore wind on the environment and other areas; and lawmakers in two counties most heavily impacted by wind farms stepped up their efforts to block the projects. Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach, and Protect Our Coast NJ filed an appeal Friday in state Superior Court of New Jersey’s determination that the Ocean Wind I project is consistent with state coastal management rules. >click to read and comment< 08:55
Blue State Enviro Groups Demand Answers From Green Biden Administration On Whale Deaths
Nonprofit groups in the state’s coastal towns have spent months trying to get the administration to place a moratorium on offshore wind projects until a thorough, transparent investigation can be completed to see if there is a connection to recent whale strandings. Since December 2022, over 20 whales have washed up along east coast shores near survey sites for future offshore wind projects in an unusual mortality rate, according to NOAA. “The low-frequency sonar used in the windmills is causing deafness in the whales. It’s one of those things that science is only going to pick up on years after the fact, in the meantime, whales are being killed,” James Lovgren, board of trustee member of Clean Ocean Action and retired commercial fisherman, told the DCNF. “You have to pause and ask, ‘why are we doing this?’” >click to read< 09:17
