February 18, 2021 — A draft environmental impact statement for the South Fork Wind Farm project off southern New England includes alternatives for a fishing vessel traffic lane and protecting ocean bottom habitat for fisheries.
Both could potentially displace preferred locations for up to 15 wind turbines of 6 to 12 megawatt capacity planned by project partners Ørsted and Eversource. The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is considering the companies’ construction and operations plan for the project 19 miles southeast of Block Island, R.I., and 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y.
The developers propose to lay out the array with one nautical mile spacing between turbine towers, consistent with plans for adjacent wind power developments south of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
A series of three virtual public hearings online followed BOEM’s January release of the draft environmental statement. The last proceeding Feb. 16 attracted project supporters from New York State labor, industry and environmental groups, and skeptics of its potential effects on the region’s fisheries, which the impact statement broadly summarizes as “negligible to moderate.”
A public comment period on the document is open until Feb. 22. Agency officials say they anticipate publishing a final version in August 2021, followed by a record of decision in October that could clear the way toward construction.