Saving Seafood

Massachusetts Gains Foothold in Offshore Wind Power, Long Ignored in U.S.

May 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — On the waterfront of this fabled former whaling hub, the outlines of a major new industry are starting to appear.

Crews of research boats perform last-minute tuneups before heading out to map the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. A large weather buoy decked out with gear for measuring wind speeds waits on the quay for repairs. And a 1,200-foot stretch of the port has been beefed up to bear enormous loads.

New Bedford hopes to soon be the operations center for the first major offshore wind farm in the United States, bringing billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs to the town and other ports on the East Coast.

New England is particularly well suited to offshore wind farms. There is not enough land for wind turbines onshore, and the area is not ideal for solar power. At the same time, Massachusetts has been under pressure to find new sources of energy to replace aging conventional and nuclear plants, as well as meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change.

“We know in light of Northern Europe’s experience with offshore wind that many U.S. ports will benefit from the arrival of the industry here,” Jon Mitchell, the New Bedford mayor, said in an interview.

Whether Massachusetts can pull of its ambitious plans will depend to some degree on local issues — and not everyone in the area is enthusiastic.

In particular, some of New Bedford’s fishermen are worried. The city’s port is already home to hundreds of fishing boats, as well as seafood auction houses and processing plants. It generates about $3.3 billion a year and supports about 6,200 jobs, according to the local authorities.

Eric Hansen, a scallop fisherman, said that he and his colleagues were concerned about threading their way through a relatively narrow allotted path through spinning turbines.

“Think fog, heavy seas,” he said.

Read the full story at the New York Times

R.I. selects Deepwater Wind to build 400-megawatt offshore wind farm

May 23, 2018 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state has selected Deepwater Wind, the Providence company that built the nation’s first offshore wind farm, to develop a 400-megawatt proposal in federal waters far off the coast that would be more than 10 times the size of the Block Island demonstration project.

Governor Gina Raimondo announced the surprise decision Wednesday afternoon.

“Rhode Island made history when we built the first offshore wind farm in the United States,” she said in a statement. “Today, we are doing it again.”

The governor made the announcement at the same time that Massachusetts announced that it had selected Vineyard Wind, a rival offshore wind developer, to develop an 800-megawatt project in the same general area of federal waters that curves southeast in a wide swathe from a point between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

 

‘I was hopeful’: Vineyard Wind wins offshore wind contract with Massachusetts

May 23, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Vineyard Wind is the big winner of Massachusetts’ first offshore wind contract, but a second company, Deepwater Wind, will receive a contract from Rhode Island based on its Massachusetts bid, according to Massachusetts environmental officials.

Vineyard Wind has been selected for an 800-megawatt wind farm — about 100 turbines — in federal waters about 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Deepwater’s project, called Revolution Wind, will be half the size, and is located south of Little Compton, Rhode Island, and Westport, Massachusetts.

In the days leading up to the decision, people seemed to be talking about the idea that Massachusetts could split the award between two winners, according to Erich Stephens, Vineyard Wind’s chief development officer. Getting a full 800 megawatts came as a surprise, he said.

“I was hopeful we might get something,” he said.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell congratulated the companies.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Comments to Vineyard Wind Draft Environmental Impact Report due June 8

May 23, 2018 — The following was released by Vineyard Wind:   

A reminder that comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Vineyard Wind project are due June 8. The DEIR is prepared in accordance with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, and as such is mostly concerned with project elements located within the Commonwealth, such as the transmission cables.

The public comment period will extend through June 8, 2018.  Anyone wishing to submit comments on the DEIR can send them to:

Secretary, Matthew A. Beaton
Attn: MEPA Office, Purvi Patel (EEA #15787)
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114

Or by email to purvi.patel@state.ma.us

The DEIR is available at the link here. Hard copies of the DEIR are available for viewing at the locations listed further below.

Vineyard Wind encourages comments to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office regarding the DEIR.  In addition, if you have any questions or comments for Vineyard Wind directly, please contact Nate Mayo, nmayo@vineyardwind.com, or cell phone number 617-840-4045.  Fishermen should contact Crista Bank, Fisheries Liaison, at cbank@vineyardwind.com.  Vineyard Wind also welcomes the opportunity to present to neighborhood associations and other civic groups—please contact Nate to schedule a time.

Draft Environmental Impact Report Hard Copy Locations

Hyannis Public Library

401 Main Street

Hyannis, MA 02601

South Yarmouth Library

312 Old Main Street

South Yarmouth, MA 02664

West Yarmouth Library

391 Main Street Route 28

West Yarmouth, MA 02673

Edgartown Public Library

26 Edgartown Road

Edgartown, MA 02539

Mashpee Public Library

64 Steeple Street

Mashpee, MA 02649

Learn more about Vineyard Wind by visiting  their site here.

 

Massachusetts: Vineyard Wind deploying floating LiDAR to assess project area

May 22, 2018 — The buoy will measure a number of parameters, including:

  • Wind speed at different heights above the water
  • Wave heights and frequency
  • Ocean currents (to aid in the final design of Vineyard Wind’s generating station)

Deployment of a SEAWATCH Wind LiDAR Buoy, also commonly known as “FLIDAR buoy,” on May 22nd will allow low power laser technology to measure wind speeds with high precision over a range of altitudes above the instrument. The buoy was designed and built by Fugro, a global provider of offshore services, offshore science, and working ships design. Fugro will also operate the buoy over the course of its deployment.

Mounted on the top of the buoy, FLIDAR is commonly used at airports and on commercial airliners to detect wind shear.

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development 

 

New Jersey: Orsted celebrates A.C. office, gets first federal permit for offshore wind farm

May 18, 2018 — ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Danish offshore wind firm Orsted, which holds a federal lease to develop an offshore wind farm 10 miles off the resort, officially opened its New Jersey headquarters here Thursday and announced it has received its first federal permit.

It has also hired former Atlantic County Utilities Authority communications manager Monica Coffey, of Margate, as its manager of community relations and communications.

“The state of New Jersey and Atlantic City in particular will have bragging rights to say it’s one of a handful of American cities to have an offshore wind farm,” Orsted North America President Thomas Brostrom said of the company’s Ocean Wind project.

“We are hopeful to see a wind farm going up in the early 2020s,” said Brostrom. “I know it’s still a long time, but it takes a couple more years to get all through the permitting. We can build a wind farm in one to two years … that’s not the problem. It’s getting through to that part where you can start actual construction.”

Brostrom said the company was notified Thursday morning that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had approved its site assessment plan, giving it the permit to deploy equipment offshore to measure wind speeds and wave height to help with final siting of windmills.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

Washington must come to grips with offshore wind conflicts

May 17, 2018 — Offshore wind energy developers have momentum building for them in East Coast waters. But other maritime industries want to ease up on the throttle.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently held another round of public meetings in New Jersey and New York, gathering information for what could be a future round of lease offerings in the New York Bight. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has promised to help fast track future permitting.

Already Statoil has plan for its Empire Wind turbine array, tucked into a 79,350-acre federal lease near the apex of ship traffic separation lanes near the entrance to New York Harbor. That could mean a lot of new maritime jobs, along with a new kind of navigational risk.

The Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey supports renewable energy, said Edward Kelly, the association’s executive director, at a May 9 meeting BOEM hosted in Newark, N.J.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

 

New film dives into issues, concerns with Deepwater Wind’s proposed wind farm

May 14, 2018 — The following was released by the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association:

Dell Cullum of East Hampton, NY, owner of Hampton Wildlife Removal and Rescue, is a master of many trades. In addition to rescuing wildlife, he also is a well-known local children’s book author, nature photographer, filmmaker, producer of the ImaginationNature.com television series, and an East Hampton Town Trustee. His roots also run deep to Montauk, New York’s largest commercial fishing port, through the Pitts and Burke families. So it seemed a natural fit for him to marry his love of nature with his concern for his roots when he decided to create the recently released two-part film, “Deepwater Dilemma.”

As a Trustee, Cullum is quite familiar with the South Fork Wind Farm being proposed by Deepwater Wind (DWW), the subject of his film. He said his impetus for doing it was born out of a desire to give voice to those who he felt were not being heard by DWW, the offshore wind energy company owned by hedgefund giant D.E. Shaw, in multiple public meetings over the last year with both the Town Board and the Town Trustees.

“After hearing the same old automated rebuttal, lacking fact and transparency, from Deepwater Wind’s representatives about real concerns from the East Hampton community, I felt it necessary to give those who oppose Deepwater’s method of operation a loud and clear opportunity to be heard, regarding environmental impact, industrializing our ocean, utility rate increases, wind power necessity, and the possible end, yet certainly danger to the local commercial fishing community and so much more,” Cullum said last week in an interview.

The resulting film in its entirety weighs in at slightly over an hour. Part one offers several perspectives from local concerned residents, including input from an energy consultant, an environmental planner, the former head of the Town of East Hampton’s Natural Resources division, an avid recreational fisherman who is also a Trustee, a former candidate for East Hampton Town Supervisor, and a former environmental liaison to a local citizens advisory committee.

Part two captures the voices of fishermen, both from Rhode Island where the first offshore wind mill was built in 2016, and from Montauk.

Cullum’s film can be watched in its entirety either by going to the Deepwater Dilemma Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSave1/ or directly to his YouTube Page here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe-2-hk96kW4eM2v-ioPuLQ/videos

A joint public hearing of the East Hampton Town Board and East Hampton Town Trustees to discuss the community benefits package being offered by DWW if the Town allows them access through Beach Lane in Wainscott for the South Fork Wind Farm will be held this Thursday, May 17th, at 6:30 p.m. at LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Road, in East Hampton.

 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Asks for More Time to Analyze Offshore Wind Impacts on Commercial Fishermen

May 10, 2018 — WASHINGTON — New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is asking the federal government for more time to analyze the potential impacts of offshore wind development, specifically on the state’s important commercial fishing industry.

In a letter last week to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Gov. Murphy wrote that the 45 days allotted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for comments on wind development in the New York Bight “is simply not enough time” for New Jersey to conduct the extensive outreach to fishermen it needs. Citing the year of stakeholder outreach conducted by New York, Gov. Murphy requested a 180-day extension of the public comment period.

“New Jersey and its fishing industry need ample time to collect and provide to BOEM more detailed information to enable BOEM to do a responsible job during the next stage of its wind energy leasing process,” Gov. Murphy wrote.

Gov. Murphy called input from New Jersey fishermen “particularly critical” because the state’s main fishing grounds are in areas that New York has submitted to BOEM for potential wind energy development, including two vital areas that are closest to New Jersey’s coast.

“While New Jersey believes that wind energy and the fishing industry can coexist productively, it is critical that potential conflicts from these multiple uses be identified and planned for early in the process,” Gov. Murphy wrote.

According to the letter, New Jersey is “only now beginning [its] review and stakeholder process,” in contrast to New York, which has had four years to conduct studies of offshore wind areas. It pointed out that New York did not effectively engage with New Jersey fishermen or other stakeholders as part of this process.

Gov. Murphy was also critical of BOEM’s own lack of engagement with New Jersey’s fishing industry, stating that they have “not yet been meaningfully involved in the process.” He pointed to two letters from New Jersey to BOEM late last year, which highlighted the lack of stakeholder outreach and requested meetings between fishermen and BOEM before moving forward with a public comment period.

However, BOEM scheduled just one fisheries-based meeting on the New York Bight in one location after its call for comments.

“This minimal level of outreach and limited time frame for response from New Jersey’s stakeholders are simply not adequate or equitable,” Gov. Murphy wrote.

Gov. Murphy’s letter is the latest effort to ensure that the concerns of fishing communities are properly considered in the development of offshore energy projects. In April, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities wrote to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, expressing their concerns over several proposed offshore projects and calling for more robust stakeholder engagement.

 

NEFMC Calls on BOEM to Look at Fishery Impacts of Vineyard Wind Project

May 10, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council is calling on federal regulators to address the concerns raised by fishing communities about the proposed Vineyard Wind offshore energy project. The request came in public comments the Council submitted to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on April 30.

Specifically, the Council has asked BOEM to require that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project identify fisheries that are likely to be affected by wind farm construction, the potential alignment of the wind turbines, ways to mitigate any potential economic and environmental damage, and the cumulative effects of offshore energy development along the Atlantic coast. Vineyard Wind has proposed constructing a wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.

“Commercial and recreational fisheries for the species managed by the Council are important sources of economic benefits along the entire Atlantic coast,” the Council writes. “If future benefits of these activities are to be realized, offshore energy development must minimize risks to marine species and existing human uses.”

According to the Council, BOEM must consider factors such as possible displacement of fishing activity, the impacts on vessels traveling through affected areas, and potential mitigation strategies for these impacts. As part of this analysis, the Council is requesting that BOEM investigate alternative plans for how wind farms and turbines are arranged on the ocean floor, to most effectively minimize their effects on existing ocean activities.

“A clear assessment of the costs and benefits associated with various layouts is critically important, as the setup of the array is fundamental to the ability of fishing activities to continue within the wind farm,” the letter states.

Finally, the Council asks that BOEM not just analyze the potential impact of the Vineyard Wind Project in isolation, but also take into account a long-term view of the cumulative effects wind energy development will have on the region’s fisheries.

“Given the number of wind energy projects being proposed along the Atlantic coast, the cumulative effects analysis must be comprehensive,” the Council writes. “We encourage a broad view of those projects that are reasonably foreseeable, keeping in mind that many fisheries operate on a regional scale and could be affected by projects offshore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as New York and New Jersey.”

Read the full letter here.