The day before the Bureau of Ocean Energy’s approval Oct. 1 of the Atlantic Shores South project to construct and operate two wind energy facilities off the New Jersey coast, the anti-wind farm advocacy group, Save LBI, filed a notice of intent to sue two federal agencies under the Endangered Species Act and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
According to a release from SaveLBI President Bob Stern, the filing gives BOEM and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 60 days to resolve issues raised in the filings before it pursues litigation. BOEM oversees offshore wind development and NOAA manages marine resources.
Advancing offshore wind will create good-paying jobs, drive economic growth, combat the climate crisis and make communities more resilient, BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein said in a release. The Atlantic Shores project has the potential to generate up to 2,800 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, which is enough to power 1 million homes.
SaveLBI contends the turbines are in the migration path of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. NOAA estimates there are 338 right whales, 70% of which are females capable of reproducing.
Stern said that noise from diesel-powered hammers used for pile-driving and turbine operations will obstruct migration and jeopardize the whales’ existence.
He said BOEM and NOAA have dismissed the noise from the larger turbines Atlantic Shores intends to build.
“These agencies routinely cite lower noise levels from smaller turbines to avoid addressing the problem of higher noise levels from larger turbines,” he said.
They also failed to consider, or even study, the impact all the wind turbines projected to be built along the East Coast will have on whale migration.
“And this is just one of the many problems that will be created by the Atlantic Shores South wind project, which, shockingly, has already received federal approval,” he said.
The projects will also impact fishing and clamming, national security, and federal agencies have failed to determine how to remove them at the end of their lifespan, he said.
The original lease was divided into two leases 8.7 miles offshore and beyond, and includes building 197 turbines with offshore substations, a meteorological tower, along with subsea transmission cables that will come ashore in Atlantic City and Sea Girt to provide electricity to the NJ power grid.
According to BOEM, it solicited feedback from government agencies, ocean users and other interested parties before it made its final decision.
“The feedback resulted in required measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate and potential impacts form the project on marine life and other ocean uses, such as fishing,” the release states.
Atlantic Shores is awaiting approval of the NJ Board of Public Utilities before it moves forward.
For more information about Atlantic Shores South project, see the BOEM website at https://www.boem.gov/
For more information about the fight against offshore wind, see https://www.SaveLBI.org
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