Saving Seafood

BOEM Approves Controversial Wind Energy Areas off Oregon

February 14, 2024 — After a months-long process of engagement with local fishermen and tribes, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has designated two final Wind Energy Areas off the Oregon Coast. Despite local opposition and skepticism from fisheries stakeholders, the areas will still go forward in BOEM’s planning process, but will be 11 percent smaller.

BOEM’s initial draft wind areas announced in August 2023 would have allowed the development of about 220,000 acres off Brookings and Coos Bay, with power generation potential of about 2.6 GW. After months of stakeholder meetings, held at the request of the state’s governor and both of its senators, the revised final areas cover about 195,000 acres – about 11 percent smaller than the draft – and have about 2.4 GW of generation potential. The physical locations and distances from shore are comparable to the draft areas.

The final result drew scathing criticism from the local fishing industry. Heather Mann, executive director of the Coos Bay-based Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, called BOEM’s engagement process “a slap in the face to Oregon’s coastal communities.”

“The final wind energy areas are slightly different from the draft wind energy areas produced earlier this year, but certainly not an acceptable or meaningful response to the many concerns including those raised by tribes, fishermen, marine scientists, environmentalists, and state and federal legislators,” said Mann.

Read the full article at the Maritime Executive

BOEM disregards Oregon objections and pushes forward with offshore wind energy areas

February 14, 2024 — The following was released by the Midwaters Trawlers Cooperative:

Despite overwhelming opposition from tribes, fishing organizations and coastal communities, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the release of the final wind energy areas (WEAs) off Oregon’s south coast today. The WEAs remain unchanged from the draft areas released earlier this year. State agencies, fishermen, environmentalists, state legislators and others raised significant concerns about the draft WEAs, apparently to no avail.

“This is a slap in the face to the many stakeholders who have been trying to engage with BOEM for the last few years,” said Heather Mann, Director of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative. “BOEM is a rogue federal agency pushing a dangerous agenda largely unchecked. BOEM will stop at nothing until our oceans are littered with wind turbines and all just to meet an arbitrary political deadline.”

Three weeks ago, Oregon’s Coastal Caucus sent BOEM a follow-up letter detailing concerns about the flawed BOEM process and the need for authentic engagement which most agree has not occurred. Oregon state legislators noted, “Coastal community members and individuals tied to the fishing industry have overwhelmingly spoken with great opposition towards offshore wind. These concerns have been echoed by marine scientists, engineers, environmentalists, tribes, and coastal municipalities. We cannot move forward with offshore wind in Oregon until the needs and concerns of these groups have been addressed.”

Mann said authentic engagement with BOEM has been non-existent. “The final wind energy areas are in prime fishing grounds where millions of pounds of sustainable seafood have been harvested. The areas are prime habitat for marine mammals and include nursery grounds for important fish species. BOEM is pitting renewable energy against sustainable food production.”

Fourth-generation fisherman Chris Cooper was also caught off guard by the announcement. “I am shocked and I’m angry,” he said. Cooper has plied the waters off southern Oregon for years. “We gave BOEM our track lines for where we fish, and I guess they have decided that our businesses and livelihoods are worth trading off to create gigantic wind farms. We will not be able to fish in these areas and we have no idea what the impact of these installations will be on the fish species found in there.”

The scale of floating offshore wind being contemplated for the West Coast does not currently exist anywhere in the world. The technology is also not successfully deployed in waters deeper than 300 meters. The WEAs finalized by BOEM for floating turbines off the Oregon coast are at 1300 meters.

Mann summed the situation up by saying, “This is a giant experiment and unfortunately, Oregon’s seafood industry and coastal communities are the ones who will end up paying the price.”

According to the BOEM announcement, the next steps in the process involve preparation of an environmental assessment of potential impacts in those areas. This will include a 30-day public comment period, during which concerned citizens are encouraged by Mann to voice their opposition.

Farther offshore, next New York Bight wind leases still draw opponents

February 12, 2024 — Six offshore wind lease areas in the New York Bight are more than 30 miles offshore of the region’s bustling suburbs and seaside resorts – distance that might have defused resistance to the wind energy projects before.

Now opposition groups that grew in reaction to nearshore projects, like Ørsted’s cancelled Ocean Wind plan off New Jersey, show few signs they will accept a new round of proposals farther east to the horizon.

Over 100 visitors walked through a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management public scoping session Feb. 8 in a Toms River, N.J., hotel meeting room, talking to BOEM workers and giving the agency testimony in video interviews and writing. The agency has grown to prefer the low-key scoping process – in-person and online – to fulfill its legal obligations to gather public input short of full-blown public hearings.

The visitors were not shy with opinions.

“What we’re really worried about is the cabling. It’s death,” said Ed Baxter, a commercial fisherman with the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.

The offshore leases now being planned for wind power development would need turbine towers linked by a network of power cables, and linked by energy export cables coming ashore near New York City and Sea Girt, N.J. A future cable network would potentially shut mobile gear fisheries like scallop dredging out of those routes, if fishermen can’t be safe that their gear won’t snag on cables, said Baxter.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

BOEM Seeks Input on Draft Environmental Analysis for Additional Site Assessment Activities on Proposed Wind Energy Project Offshore Massachusetts

February 3, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

On Feb. 2, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish in the Federal Register the “Notice of Availability (NOA) of a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for Additional Site Assessment Activities on Beacon Wind, LLC’s Renewable Energy Lease OCS-A 0520,” opening a 30-day public comment period that ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Mar. 4, 2024. BOEM invites public comment on the Draft EA for additional site assessment plan (SAP) activities in the Beacon Wind lease area offshore Massachusetts.

The Draft EA analyzes the potential environmental impacts of proposed site assessment activities which consist of 35 deployments and removals of a single suction bucket foundation at 26 locations within the lease area to gather information to support the engineering design of wind turbine and offshore substation foundations that would potentially be installed within the lease area for a future Beacon Wind project.

On Nov. 7, 2023, BOEM published a “Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment for Additional Site Assessment Activities on Beacon Wind, LLC’s Renewable Energy Lease OCS-A 0520.” The amended SAP and Draft EA can be found on BOEM’s webpage.

Virtual Public Meetings 

Two virtual public meetings are proposed during the 30-day comment period for the Draft EA. All times are Eastern:

  • Friday, February 23, 2024; 1 p.m.
  • Wednesday, February 28, 2024; 5 p.m.

How to Submit Comments 

  • Through the regulations.gov web portal: Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket No. BOEM-2024-0006 to submit public comments and view supporting and related materials available for this notice.  Click on the “Comment” button below the document link.  Enter your information and comment, then click “Submit Comment”; or
  • By U.S. Postal Service or other delivery service: Send your comments and information to the following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, Mail Stop VAM-OREP, Sterling, VA 20166.

BOEM seeks comments on important resources and issues, impact-producing factors, and potential mitigating measures analyzed in the Draft EA. The public comments will help inform BOEM’s decision on whether to approve the site assessment plan amendment. Following the comment period, BOEM will review the comments received to include information for consideration in the Beacon Wind Final EA.

More information, including registration for the virtual public meetings, can be found on BOEM’s website.

New wind strategy advanced to protect right whales

February 1, 2024 — The federal government announced a new strategy aimed at protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale while the development of offshore wind ramps up.

The 78-page strategy from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and NOAA Fisheries, released Thursday, Jan. 25, lays out ways to continue evaluating and mitigating the potential effects on the whales and their habitat.

North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species, with an estimated 360 individuals remaining, a population that has been reported to be on the decline. That decline has been felt locally, as a juvenile right whale was found dead in Edgartown on Monday.

While NOAA reports that entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes are the leading cause of death for the whales, the agency says that ocean noise is also a threat to the species, and sources can include energy exploration and development.

Read the full article at MV Times

Feds look to release plan to protect right whales while expanding wind power

January 29, 2024 — With whale deaths and offshore wind power now firmly connected in many minds along the Jersey Shore, federal officials released a strategy to protect one of the most endangered species while developing wind power off the coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the U.S. Department of the Interior, on Thursday released a final joint strategy aimed at helping the North Atlantic right whale recover while also developing offshore wind energy, citing a Biden administration goal of increasing wind energy development.

The North Atlantic right whale, weighing multiple tons and growing to be more than 50 feet long, is considered to be at the brink of extinction.

According to federal studies, only about 360 of the animals are left in the world, and of those, fewer than 70 are reproductively active females.

Read the full article at the Press of Atlantic City

U.S. sets plans to protect endangered whales near offshore wind farms; firms swap wind leases

January 26, 2024 — Two federal environmental agencies issued plans Thursday to better protect endangered whales amid offshore wind farm development.

That move came as two offshore wind developers announced they were swapping projects.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released final plans to protect endangered North American right whales, of which there are only about 360 left in the world.

The agencies said they are trying to find ways to better protect the whales amid a surge of offshore wind farm projects, particularly on the U.S. East Coast. They plan to look for ways to mitigate any potential adverse impacts of offshore wind projects on the whales and their habitat.

The strategy will use artificial intelligence and passive acoustic monitoring to determine where the whales are at a given time and to monitor the impacts of wind development on the animals.

It also calls for avoiding the granting of offshore wind leases in areas where major impacts to right whales may occur; establishing noise limits during construction; supporting research to develop new harm minimization technologies; and making it a priority to develop quieter technology and operating methods for offshore wind development.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

BOEM Seeks Public Comment on Draft Environmental Analysis of Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Areas

January 11, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

In another step by the Biden-Harris administration to support the growing momentum across America for a clean energy economy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced the availability of its draft environmental review of wind energy areas offshore the U.S. Central Atlantic region. 

BOEM’s Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) considers potential environmental consequences of site characterization activities (e.g., geophysical, geological, and archaeological surveys) and site assessment activities (e.g., installation of meteorological buoys) associated with issuing wind energy leases in the Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The Draft EA also considers project easements and grants associated with each potential lease, including subsea cable corridors. The public comment period for the draft EA runs through Feb. 12, 2024

Glauconite forcing changes to wind farms off East Coast

December 24, 2023 — Glauconite, a tricky green mineral, has complicated another offshore wind project along the East Coast. Its presence will likely force wind developer Ørsted to build fewer turbines in its Sunrise Wind project south of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Sunrise Wind may be capped at 80 to 87 turbines, instead of as many as 94, according to the project’s final environmental impact report, released last week. Ørsted cites “glauconite feasibility issues” with installing turbine foundations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s report.

The Sunrise Wind project, about 40 miles south of New Bedford, will connect to the New York power grid. It’s the second confirmed offshore wind project along the East Coast that has rejected proposed turbine layouts due to the presence of glauconite. Empire Wind, off Long Island, has also had to do so, The Light reported in October.

BOEM, the U.S. ocean energy bureau, appears to be taking steps to address glauconite’s challenge to offshore wind development, its report last week signals.

“BOEM is developing further guidelines for developers to avoid these issues in the future,” read an agency response to a comment on the Sunrise Wind project. The comment was critical of the later timing of geological surveys, which can identify whether glauconite is present and might create an issue with certain turbine layouts.

BOEM did not provide a response to emailed questions on the agency’s comment about developing guidelines to avoid further issues.

The NOAA Fisheries Atlantic office, which cooperates with BOEM in reviewing projects, has also expressed concern with geological surveys occurring “late in the process.” In the case of Sunrise Wind, the fisheries agency said the timing reduced the government’s options for avoiding or minimizing impacts on marine resources.

Glauconite’s presence caused BOEM to reject a proposed wind turbine layout, preferred by NOAA Fisheries, that would have excluded Sunrise Wind’s turbines from a key area of Atlantic cod spawning habitat.

In response to a request for comment, a Sunrise Wind spokesperson said by email, “Impacts due to glauconite are not expected to affect this project.”

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Wind farms will be 15 miles away. But Preservation Society says they will spoil their ‘viewshed’ | Opinion

December 19, 2023 — Bill Fitzgerald lives in Newport.

I read that the Preservation Society of Newport County is filing a lawsuit to stop or alter the wind farm being developed 15 miles out to sea. I was a little dumbfounded. How is this going to help them? Perception is everything in the tourism business and it makes the Preservation Society look like a NIMBY poster child for the fossil fuel industry.

I guess that is what the rich and powerful do if they don’t like something.

In the complaint, the Preservation Society argued that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management improperly approved the wind farms that will damage historic resources in the City of Newport, which is heavily dependent on heritage tourism. Federal law, it claimed, “makes clear that the ‘viewsheds’ of historic resources are as important as bricks and mortar. These appeals seek to preserve historic and pristine views from industrial-scale development.”

Read the full article at the Providence Journal