October 23, 2019 — Local fishermen say they’ve been waiting for months for Ørsted to respond to a host of concerns they’ve presented about a proposed 75-turbine wind farm about a dozen miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard.
Joe Gilbert, who has a fleet of four commercial boats based at the Stonington Town Dock, said he met with John O’Keefe, head of marine operations for Ørsted, in March to discuss the “vast” concerns that he and other fishermen have ranging from potential environmental impacts to spacing in between turbines. The meeting, which lasted several hours, was productive with O’Keefe taking copious notes, Gilbert said.
“I thought it was the beginning of an open dialogue between the wind developer and the fishermen,” Gilbert said. “I understand we have to try and coexist, and these folks came down wanting to know what our issues were to hopefully work with us so we would all be good neighbors.”
Gilbert said he never heard back from O’Keefe about how Ørsted plans to address the issues, even after following up multiple times with him and other company officials. Eventually, he and a group of Stonington fishermen were offered a meeting in September with Matthew Morrissey, Ørsted’s head of New England markets.
They reiterated their concerns, including those that required more immediate attention, such as a close call earlier in the year between a survey vessel and a fishing vessel in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. Gilbert said the fishing vessel tried to communicate with the survey vessel to determine right of way, but the operators on the bridge of the survey vessel, which operates under the Marshall Islands flag, did not speak English.
Morrissey “promised a two-day response” to address their concerns, Gilbert said, but he and the others still haven’t heard back.