July 1, 2023 — The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners is calling on the Bureau Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to extend the comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Atlantic Shores South offshore wind farm.
In a move that falls in line with requests by local shore communities, the board voted June 20 to ask BOEM to extend the deadline for public comment on the 6,200-page EIS for the 200 turbine project.
The official deadline for comment is July 3. But in light of a recently initiated US General Accountability Office investigation of offshore wind, and calls by shore communities up and down the East Coast to slow things down, the commissioners decided that more time is needed.
The resolution initially stated that there should be an indefinite moratorium on offshore wind development. After several amendments suggested Commissioner Richard Dase, it was revised to show support of the GAO investigation and seek a comment period extension of between 90 and 135 days.
In February 2023 the commissioners voted to support Rep. Jeff Van Drew and state Sen. Vince Polistina in the request for a 90-day moratorium on offshore wind development activity, joining the growing chorus of communities and officials concerned that offshore wind development activities contributed to the recent spike in marine mammal deaths.
During the discussion, Dase stated that the commissioners never heard feedback from BOEM. In the case of the June 20 resolution, the federal agency was copied directly to Jessica Stromberg from BOEM.
Commissioner Caren Fitzpatrick, noting all of the federal agencies that have looked into the whale deaths. She said people hold out until they hear what they want to hear.