Saving Seafood

Texas Public Policy Foundation brings fishermen’s lawsuit against Vineyard Wind

December 22, 2021 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has so prioritized offshore wind energy development that it is bypassing real environmental review and failing to consider alternative sites that won’t harm the commercial fishing industry, charges a lawsuit brought by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Filed Dec. 15 in federal court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of six fishing businesses in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York, the action challenges BOEM and other federal agencies on their review of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off southern New England.

The lead plaintiff, Seafreeze Shoreside Inc. of North Kingston, R.I., is a homeport and major processor for the Northeast squid fleet. Captains there are adamant they will not be able to fish if Vineyard Wind and other planned turbine arrays are erected in those waters.

Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison at Seafreeze and a vocal advocate for its fishermen, said she had heard mention of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in conversation, “kind of along the lines of Pacific Legal Foundation which litigated for the fishing industry on the Northeast marine monument” fishing restrictions recently reinstated by the Biden administration.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

What’s behind one lawsuit against Vineyard Wind

September 21, 2021 — Annie Hawkins has a message you don’t hear very often in Massachusetts these days.

The executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a national group of fishing interests, Hawkins is questioning the rush to develop offshore wind. Her organization is suing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, alleging the agency is failing to protect the fishing industry as it races to develop the nation’s offshore wind potential to help address climate change.

“In taking action to address climate change, we have to acknowledge that these new uses [of the ocean] have a lot of environmental uncertainty. They have a lot of impacts of their own,” Hawkins said on The Codcast. “They can be better understood and minimized before we go whole hog on this 30 gigawatts tomorrow. A lot more upfront due diligence needs to be done.”

The 30 gigawatts reference refers to President Biden’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. It’s a goal that meshes with Gov. Charlie Baker’s push to develop 3.2 gigawatts by 2030. The Baker administration has already procured 1.6 gigawatts and is in the midst of reviewing proposals that would double that amount.

Read the full story at CommonWealth Magazine

 

New Bedford Fishermen Among Those Suing Over Vineyard Wind

September 15, 2021 — Local fishermen are among those in a coalition of commercial fisheries suing the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management over its approval of the Vineyard Wind project.

More than 50 fishing vessels based in New Bedford and Fairhaven are listed as members of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, along with 13 Massachusetts-based businesses and associations.

The group filed a petition in federal court on Monday to review the agency’s approval of Vineyard Wind, a project slated to become the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Nantucket.

According to a statement from the coalition, fisheries professionals had been participating in the planning process for the 62-turbine project — but, the group said, their input was “summarily ignored by decision-makers.”

Read the full story at WBSM

 

Balance of power: BOEM and states look at compensation for fishermen; endangered whales pose challenge to developers

September 14, 2021 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is working with coastal states to come up with plans for potentially compensating fishermen for lost fishing grounds and other negative effects of developing offshore wind turbine arrays.

Fishing industry advocates are pushing anew to get fishermen deeply involved now to minimize impacts from sweeping plans to rapidly develop a U.S. offshore wind industry — and hoping to limit damage to the U.S. food supply.

The government’s drive toward creating more offshore wind energy areas in the New York Bight is looking like a repeat of its mistakes in planning southern New England projects and needs to be braked, fishermen said at an Aug. 6 meeting in New Bedford, Mass.

“It’s going to be responsible for the destruction of a centuries-old industry that’s only been feeding people,” Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, told officials of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Fishing Industry Group Files Legal Challenge to Wind Farm

September 14, 2021 — A coalition of commercial fishing groups on Monday sued the federal agency that approved construction of a 62-turbine wind energy farm off the coast of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, saying it did not adequately take into account the project’s potential impact on the industry.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance’s petition for review of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s approval of the Vineyard Wind 1 project was filed with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s hasty approval of this project, which could be the nation’s first commercial scale offshore wind installation, adds unacceptable risk to this sustainable industry without any effort to minimize unreasonable interference with traditional and well-managed seafood production and navigation,” the organization said in a statement.

The federal agency, in an emailed statement, said it had no comment.

A spokesperson for Vineyard Wind, a joint project of a Danish company and a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola, said the company dies not comment on pending litigation.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at US News and World Report

 

Interior Department Announces Environmental Review of Proposed Wind Energy Facility in the North Atlantic

August 31, 2021 — The following was released by the US Department of the Interior:

As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030, the Department of the Interior today announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to conduct an environmental review of a proposed commercial-scale wind project offshore New York.

“The Interior Department is committed to confronting climate change, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, and paving the way for the nation’s transition to a cleaner energy future. Offshore wind is a critical component of that ambitious agenda,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “The demand for offshore wind energy has never been greater — we will continue to invest in the infrastructure to develop the offshore wind industry and to help attract the domestic supply chain.”

The project proposes to build up to 122 wind turbines, which would generate 880 to 1,300 megawatts of renewable energy and power nearly 600,000 homes. The project would help New York meet its clean energy goal of achieving 70 percent electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The lease area is in federal waters approximately 31 miles east of Montauk, New York; 19 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; and 17 miles from Block Island, Rhode Island.

BOEM’s Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) opens a 30-day public comment period on the proposed Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Sunrise Wind, LLC, a joint venture between Orsted North America Inc. and Eversource Investment, LLC.

During the 30-day public comment period, BOEM is seeking information to determine the scope of important resources and issues, potential impacts to the environment, reasonable alternatives, and mitigation measures to be analyzed in the EIS. After identifying the scope of the review, BOEM will conduct a full environmental analysis as part of the EIS and determine whether to approve the COP.

BOEM will accept comments via U.S. mail, through Regulations.gov, and during three virtual scoping meetings where stakeholders and other members of the public can learn more about the project before commenting for the record. The meeting dates and times are:

  • Thursday, September 16, 2021; 5:30 p.m. (ET)
  • Monday, September 20, 2021; 1:00 p.m. (ET)
  • Wednesday, September 22, 2021; 5:30 p.m. (ET)

The comment period will close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on September 30, 2021.

More information about the proposed offshore wind project, BOEM’s environmental review, and how to provide public comments may be found at BOEM’s Sunrise Wind webpage.

Offshore wind advocates see Gulf of Mexico opportunity

August 25, 2021 — Building on moves by Louisiana, offshore wind advocates see the Gulf of Mexico as a next major step for developing the U.S. industry – possibly including re-use of offshore oil and gas platforms and pipelines as assets for an allied “green hydrogen” industry.

“We know offshore wind takes a long time to get off the ground…we’ve got to move fast,” said Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the industry group Business Network for Offshore Wind, on the opening days of its International Partnering Forum conference in Richmond, Va.

BNOW’s Gulf of Mexico working group conferred by video Tuesday with officials in Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has been working since June on Bel Edwards’ request to seek commercial interest in developing wind power off his state.

The agency is taking its early look at a swath of the gulf outer continental shelf out to 4,000-foot depth for potential siting of fixed-foundation and floating wind turbines.

“We are at the very beginning of that process,” said Tershara Matthews of BOEM. The agency is reviewing comments from stakeholders – along with some proprietary information offered by potential wind developers – to assess its next steps.

“There was interest in both fixed and floating,” added Mike Celata of BOEM, with more tending toward fixed development on the shallower shelf. Most of that is focused west of Lafayette, La., with “overlapping interest” by different developers, he said.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New Date: BOEM Holds Virtual Public Meetings on Proposed Wind Energy Project Offshore New York and New Jersey

August 24, 2021 — The following was released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management:

On August 10, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) that assesses the potential impacts of the issuance of commercial and research leases within the nearly 800,000-acre wind energy areas of the New York Bight, and granting of rights-of-way and rights-of-use and easement in the region.

BOEM is holding two virtual public meetings regarding the EA. Due to ongoing storm impacts to the Northeast region, BOEM has rescheduled the virtual meeting originally planned for Tuesday, August 24 to Thursday, August 26. The new dates and times are as follows:

August 25, 2021 at 5:00 PM Eastern
Register for this meeting here:
https://cbuilding.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rm8imA4AREeZUB9G5yZbpQ  

August 26, 2021 at 1:00 PM Eastern [please note new date and time]
Register for this meeting here:
https://cbuilding.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uLhhaX9hRoiwCeAuyMrWDg

Participants who previously registered for the August 24 meeting do not need to re-register for the August 26 meeting date. We apologize for any inconvenience as a result of this change.

The draft EA, detailed information about the proposed leasing in the New York Bight, and how to comment, can be found on BOEM’s website at https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-york-bight.

We hope to see you there.

Adverse impacts to commercial fishing from South Fork wind project, report says

August 20, 2021 — “Moderate to major” impacts on commercial fishing would be expected with construction of the planned South Fork offshore wind energy project south of Rhode Island, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s final environmental impact statement.

“These impacts would occur due to the increased presence of offshore structures (cable protection measures and foundations) that could reduce fishing access and increase the risk of fishing gear damage/loss,” the report states. “The extent of adverse impacts would vary by fishery and fishing operation due to differences in target species, gear type, and predominant location of fishing activity.”

Some for-hire recreational fishing operators could see long-term opportunities for fishing near turbines, when construction of towers and their rock scour protection creates an artificial reef effect to attract some species, the report notes.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Feds See Turbines as a Mixed Bag

August 20, 2021 — The construction and operation of the South Fork Wind farm is likely to have negligible to moderately adverse impacts on marine life and habitat, with some moderately beneficial impacts also likely. For commercial fisheries, however, moderate to major adverse effects, either temporarily or long term, are predicted, with minor to moderate disruptions on for-hire recreational fishing.

But climate change, other offshore development and vessel activity, and fishing itself will have “continuing temporary to long-term impacts” on commercial and recreational fishing. The wind farm’s impact on birds and bats, marine mammals, and air and water quality would be negligible to moderately adverse.

These are among the conclusions of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s final environmental impact statement on the proposed wind farm, issued on Monday and signaling BOEM’s completion of its environmental review.

The statement represents an exhaustive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of activities detailed in the wind farm developers’ Construction and Operations Plan. It follows BOEM’s January publishing of a draft environmental impact statement for the wind farm. In the ensuing 45-day comment period, the bureau received 1,300 public comments. It also held three virtual public meetings to solicit feedback on the draft environmental impact statement from individuals and groups including commercial fishermen and other stakeholders. Those comments are incorporated into the final statement.

The wind farm’s developers, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, plan a 12-turbine, 130-megawatt installation to be situated in a federal lease area approximately 35 miles east of Montauk Point. It would deliver electricity to the South Fork via an export cable making landfall at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott, a plan that has angered many residents of that hamlet and spurred a drive to incorporate a portion of it as a village.

Read the full story at the East Hampton Star