Saving Seafood

New Jersey: Wind Resistance

April 8, 2023 –Rich Baehrle, resplendent in a red, white and blue American flag button-down shirt, sported a black baseball cap emblazoned with the defiant Revolutionary War dictum: “Don’t tread on me.”

As he stood before a large crowd at the Ocean City Tabernacle, the real estate broker from Northfield poured out his grievances, delivered in a rapid, brusque manner through a thick Southern accent.

“I am against it! I’m not calling for a moratorium,” he thundered in the church building as if raging against sin, raising his hands while drawing loud applause. “It’s our coast! It’s our New Jersey! And we need to stop it now!”

It was not a religious service. Baehrle was railing at the wind.

In a raucous public meeting in March when residents and elected officials came out by the hundreds to declare their unwavering opposition to the proposed installation of hundreds of wind turbines off the Jersey Shore, Baehrle might have been preaching to the choir.

It was not just about ruining their ocean views. Some in the hall theorized the offshore platforms would haphazardly set off pacemakers. Others believed it was a national security risk, would brainwash children into the fruits of green energy, incur millions in future decommissioning costs and single-handedly dismantle local tourism. One speaker asserted, without substantiation, that the electricity from the wind turbines would all go to New York.

Further enflaming it all were the whales.

At least 31 whales and 25 dolphins have floated ashore up and down the East Coast since December and have become part of the fight, despite evidence that many of the marine mammals were most likely hit-and-run victims of increasingly larger cargo ships. And despite there being no wind farms in the ocean off the coast of Jersey just yet. In fact, there are only 7 wind turbines along the entire Eastern seaboard right now, off the coast of Block Island in Rhode Island and Virginia.\

Read the full article at NJ.com

NEW JERSEY: ‘Tell us why’: Monmouth Commissioners call for investigation into surge of whale deaths

April 8, 2023 — Monmouth County officials stood in the mist at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park on Wednesday, where they gathered to call for an immediate stop to offshore wind energy work off New Jersey’s coast.

Their announcement marked a new addition to a growing group of elected officials who are demanding answers on recent deaths among whales and dolphins across the region, and who allege offshore wind survey work is the cause.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 10 whale deaths had been recorded along the Jersey Shore since Dec. 1. In addition, two separate pods of dolphins had stranded since early February on New Jersey beaches. Another three individual dead dolphins and one porpoise had washed ashore in separate strandings.

Read the full article at Daily Record

NEW JERSEY: NJ officials push again for wind energy stoppage

April 6, 2023 — There has to be something that’s contributing to a rash of marine mammal strandings along the New Jersey coastline, officials say. So, what is it?

County, state, and federal officials gathered in Long Branch on Wednesday to call for a pause of offshore wind activity, so that a comprehensive — and unbiased — investigation can be conducted into whether the going-green effort is contributing to the deaths of dozens of dolphins and several whales on New Jersey and New York beaches.

“It’s a simple equation — just stop, investigate, and tell us why,” Monmouth County Commissioner Thomas Arnone told a crowd at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park.

For months, activists and officials have been pushing a not-yet-proven theory that preparation work to get wind turbines along the East Coast is interfering with the normal way of life for marine mammals, resulting in their death.

Environmentalists and New Jersey mayors have sent letters to President Joe Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy, asking for a halt to wind energy progress offshore, at least until it can be proven that acoustic surveys and other activity aren’t directly causing deadly harm to marine life. A moratorium has also been the focus of legislation on the federal level.

Read the full article at New Jersey 101.5

NOAA: NJ wind farm may ‘adversely affect,’ not kill whales

April 6, 2023 — New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm may “adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals, but its construction, operation and eventual dismantling will not seriously harm or kill them, a federal scientific agency said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report Tuesday evaluating an analysis by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Ocean Wind I project to be built off the southern New Jersey coast.

NOAA’s final biological opinion examined BOEM’s research, and took into account “the best scientific and commercial data available.”

NOAA determined the project by Danish wind power company Orsted “is likely to adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of any species” of endangered whales, sea turtles and other animals. Nor is it likely to “destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat.”

Read the full article at Associated Press 

Massive study examines offshore wind’s impact on fishing, fisheries

April 5, 2023 — A just released “first of its kind” report that federal regulators and the fishing industry spent three years working on is making the rounds, exploring the impacts of offshore wind on fisheries and commercial fishermen, and identifying the questions that remain unanswered.

They just released their results in a nearly 400-page “Synthesis of Science” report — a collaborative effort between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lead regulator of offshore wind; NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center; and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a membership-based coalition of the fishing industry.

“I would say this [report] is the first of its kind,” said Fiona Hogan, one of the principal investigators and the research director for RODA. “It was kind of amazing … that we were able to get state and federal employees, academics, even from over in Europe … and the fishing industry directly working together to write this document.”

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

NEW JERSEY: Van Drew hearing pushes back against offshore wind

April 2, 2o23 — Offshore wind came under congressional scrutiny March 16 when Rep. Jeff Van Drew hosted a field hearing in front of an overflow crowd at the Wildwood Convention Center.

Four Republican members of the House of Representatives heard from six experts, all of whom were critical of the offshore wind farms being developed in three lease areas off the New Jersey coast by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) and the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy.

The hearing was an effort to “develop a legislative solution for the disruptive effect of offshore wind,” Van Drew said.

Marine mammal deaths continue to be the catalyst for offshore wind opposition. Since early December, nine whales have been found dead or dying on New Jersey beaches. Other cetaceans, including porpoises and dolphins, have also been washing ashore at an alarming rate. Counting eight dolphins that stranded on the Sea Isle City beach March 21, that number has reached a combined 23 dead porpoises and dolphins since December according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

Although no official cause of death for the whales has been announced, concerns have been growing that they are connected to sonar mapping of the ocean floor being done in preparation for the construction of the Ocean Wind 1, Ocean Wind 2, and Atlantic Shores offshore wind projects.

Testimony by panelists depicted offshore wind as a threat to more than sea mammals. Tourism, commercial fishing, maritime safety and household budgets are all at risk, according to critics.

“If offshore wind industrialization moves forward, it will be the most profound transformation of the Atlantic coast in the history of the United States of America,” said Van Drew, who has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for a moratorium on offshore wind until answers to the whale death mystery can be found.

Rep. Chris Smith, from New Jersey’s 4th District (Monmouth and Ocean counties), has introduced a bill in the House seeking an investigation into the environmental approval process for offshore wind projects.

“Like the canary in the coal mine, the recent spate of tragic whale deaths has brought new light and increased scrutiny to the fast tracking of thousands of wind turbines off our coast,” Smith said. He called the wind farm approval process “shotty at best.”

Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, agreed that something isn’t right.

“This is too much too fast and in a word simply reckless,” Zipf said. “Marine life is being placed at grave risk without scientific due diligence monitoring and protection to ensure the ocean survives this massive industrialization.”

Despite the magnitude of New Jersey’s offshore wind program, the public, especially those from communities most directly affected, feel like they have no say according to Van Drew, who chaired the meeting.

“From communities to stakeholders, it is hard to find a group that feels as though their thoughts and suggestions have been properly examined and/or addressed by ocean wind companies,” the congressman said.

Van Drew said Orsted, the Danish company which is building Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2, was given the opportunity to appear at the hearing, but declined, instead submitting a letter that alludes to what they have already put into the public record.

Read the full article at Shore Local News

Five US senators call for NOAA investigation into spike in whale deaths

April 2, 2023 — A group of Democratic U.S. senators from four states are pushing for NOAA to investigate a string of whale deaths along both coasts of the U.S. – including deaths that some in the fishing industry are attributing to work on offshore wind installations.

Numerous whale deaths have occurred off the U.S. East Coast in the last few months, with several whales washing up on the shores of the state of New Jersey. Seven dead humpback whales have already been discovered in 2023 off the coast of the state – a total higher than any full year since 2016.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NEW JERSEY: Van Drew holds hearing on wind farm, calls it collusion of big government and industry

March 23, 2023 — Billed as a “hearing on offshore wind industrialization along the East Coast,” an event March 16 at the Wildwoods Convention Center included Congress members from two states, environmental organizations and representatives of the commercial fishing industry all speaking out against wind farm projects planned off the coast.

U.S. Rep. Van Drew (R-2nd) called it the launch of a congressional investigation into offshore wind aimed at developing a comprehensive legislative solution for what he characterized as the disruptive effects of offshore wind.

“If offshore wind industrialization moves forward, it will be the most profound transformation of the Atlantic coast in the history of the United States of America,” said Van Drew, who long represented the region as a Democrat in local, county and state offices.

Developers want to build thousands of “Eiffel Tower-sized turbines” that will line the horizon for decades, Van Drew said, adding that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has engaged in a rushed and sloppy approval process.

“The truth is our government is acting more in the interest of the rich and powerful than the interest of the people of America,” he said.

The dentist said neither the federal government nor the wind turbine companies have been responsive to the local community. He said Ørsted, the Danish wind-energy company behind the Ocean Wind 1 project, rejected an invitation to participate in the event.

The wind projects are a case of big government joining with big companies, “colluding together,” Van Drew said.

Ørsted did not interact with local communities or members of the fishing and tourism industries, he said.

Van Drew said Congress must step in because offshore wind companies, the administration of President Joe Biden and that of Gov. Phil Murphy refused to share the facts with the American people.

He said the wind project area is massive and that nearly 2 million acres have been leased in the Atlantic Ocean. He said the projects would require hundreds of miles of seafloor dredging to bury power transmission cables.

Van Drew called the projects a wealth transfer from American taxpayers and rate payers into the pockets of wealthy energy industrialists “who aren’t even in America.”

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th) said driving piles into the seabed would generate catastrophic noise levels for sea life during the construction phase. He also said the turbines would fall like dominos during a Category 3 or stronger hurricane.

Radar used by the U.S. Coast Guard would be compromised by the wind turbines, Smith said, adding a 2022 report from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine stated the towers would interfere with marine vessel radar.

Smith said he introduced legislation to get the General Accountability Office to produce an overview of how poorly environmental reviews have been conducted for the wind projects.

Attendance was limited to 400 persons due to fire safety rules, which led to chants of “let us in” from the lobby from those who were not admitted to the meeting room.

Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, said her organization is open to the idea of some offshore wind but only if a pilot program proved successful and the science was available to support industrial-scale power plants while protecting the ocean.

She said according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, by 2030, offshore wind coverage would involve 3,400 turbines requiring 10,000 miles of cable.

“This is too much, too fast and, in a word, simply reckless,” Zipf said. “Marine life is being placed at great risk without scientific due diligence, monitoring and protection to ensure the ocean survives this massive industrialization.”

Read the full article at Ocean City Sentinel 

NEW JERSEY: Congressman Slams Biden, Murphy For ‘Shoddy’ Offshore Wind Farm Strategy In New Jersey

March 23, 2023 — U.S. Congressman Chris Smith attended a hearing on offshore windarms in New Jersey and slammed President Joe Biden and Governor Phil Murphy over what he called the harmful environmental impact 3,500 wind turbines could have on the coastal ecosystem.

Smith said the President and governor’s rush to install nearly 3,500 wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey without sufficient study on their impact on the environment, marine mammals, the fishing industry, tourism and navigational safety was reckless.

“The wind farm approval process has been shoddy at best, leaving unaddressed and unanswered numerous serious questions concerning the extraordinarily harmful environmental impact on marine life and the ecosystems that allow all sea creatures great and small to thrive,” Smith said. “Without serious, aggressive, and independent analysis on the ocean-altering impact of these projects, they must be paused.”

Smith cited a Carnegie Mellon study that noted “There is a very substantial risk that Category 3 hurricanes can destroy half or more of the turbines at some locations,” as an example of these issues.

Read the full article at Shore News Network

Save LBI offshore wind farm suit could get dumped, but here is why it has one more chance

March 21, 2023 — Save Long Beach Island’s lawsuit to halt wind farms off the coast here is in jeopardy of being tossed from a federal district court in Washingtonn D.C.

U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case on March 9. However, she also allowed Save LBI’s request to submit an amended complaint. She gave the group 30 days to make the amendment or the case will be closed. The group has 2½ weeks left to do so.

Save LBI, a coalition formed to push proposed wind turbine projects farther from shore, filed its suit 14 months ago, claiming the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act when it created the wind farm lease sites off the New Jersey coast.

Read the full article at app.