Saving Seafood

Aquinnah tribe supports wind lawsuit

December 11, 2024 — The leader of the Martha’s Vineyard Native American tribe, and a tribal citizen who runs a popular charter fishing business, are supporting a lawsuit against a wind farm that is undergoing construction off Aquinnah’s coast.

The chair of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, filed a declaration in federal district court in Washington, D.C., stating that the tribe has suffered as the result of the government’s actions approving Revolution Wind, a development under construction 12 miles from the Vineyard.

William (“Buddy”) Vanderhoop has filed a similar declaration; both read like witness statements. Vanderhoop said that the fishing grounds that he brings customers to have not been as productive as in prior years, and he worries about his business as a result.

Describing themselves as a grassroots organization, the Rhode Island group Green Oceans is alleging in the lawsuit filed at the beginning of this year that the federal government has violated a number of laws — including the Endangered Species and Clean Water acts — by approving the construction of Revolution Wind. Some 35 other plaintiffs are part of the lawsuit, including the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and Save Right Whales Coalition.

Revolution Wind is expected to consist of 65 Siemens Gamesa turbines — which feature blades more than 300 feet long — with the capacity to generate up to 400 megawatts for Rhode Island and 304 megawatts for Connecticut, enough to power more than 350,000 homes.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the wind farm in November last year.

But tribal members, including Andrews-Maltais, worry about the impact the offshore wind development is having on many significant cultural practices, the environment as well as wildlife in the area.

Read the full article at Martha Vineyard Times

DELAWARE: US Wind gets green light from Delaware for offshore wind project What happens now?

December 11, 2024 — Delaware’s environmental division has approved three permits needed for US Wind’s offshore wind project off of the Maryland coast.

DNREC announced Monday, Dec. 9 that US Wind’s permits to utilize Delaware’s land to connect the turbines to a new substation were approved with stipulations that would require the company to employ mitigation strategies and fund certain conservation efforts around the Delaware beaches.

“This is an important step forward,” said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “After a thorough, science-based review by DNREC’s experts, and feedback from the public, we are thrilled to have secured these final approvals to move forward on delivering massive amounts of clean energy to the region. Offshore wind will help lower electricity bills for the people of Delaware, satisfy the region’s critical need for more electricity and improve air quality across the state, all while supporting good local jobs.

Read the full article at Delaware Online

Vineyard Wind Withstands Another Legal Challenge

December 10, 2024 — Another attempt to halt Vineyard Wind through the courts fell short last week when a federal court dismissed an appeal by a fishermen’s organization and a Rhode Island seafood dealer.

A panel of judges with the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision on Dec. 5, saying the group’s claims that the federal government mishandled the approval process for the wind farm were unfounded.

The decision is one of several that Vineyard Wind, which aims to build 62 turbines to the south of the Island, has weathered in recent years, keeping the project’s approvals from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management intact.

Seafreeze Shoreside, a Rhode Island-based seafood dealer, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and other groups filed the appeal after their claims were rejected by the U.S. District Court in Boston in 2023.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Senator Whitehouse introduces bill to improve offshore wind development process

December 6, 2024 — U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced the Create Offshore Leadership and Livelihood Alignment By Operating Responsibly and Together for the Environment (COLLABORATE) Act, a comprehensive bill to improve the offshore wind development process and bring new sources of affordable clean energy onto the grid.

The COLLABORATE Act would put domestic offshore wind development on track by improving permitting, coordination, and cooperation between agencies and with developers and stakeholders, creating a holistic process for offshore wind transmission, and boosting support for fisheries and other potentially affected groups, including the establishment of a compensation fund for eligible recipients.

“Rhode Island has led an early charge in America’s offshore wind development.  My legislation applies the Ocean State model of good-faith cooperation to the federal interagency process, while fixing permitting and transmission problems to harness our abundant offshore wind potential,” said Whitehouse.  “The pathway to a clean energy future is narrowing fast, and we can’t afford to lose investments to bureaucratic delays and endless red tape.  I’m hopeful we can pass this bill swiftly and bring offshore wind online nationwide.”

Read the full story at What’s Up Newp

Maryland can start construction on its first offshore wind farm

December 5, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved US Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan for Maryland’s first offshore wind farm Tuesday.

The state has ambitious offshore wind goals and past failed agreements with Danish renewable energy giant Orsted.

“After more than four years of rigorous and robust analysis, we are thrilled to have secured this final BOEM approval,” said US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski. “US Wind’s projects will produce massive amounts of homegrown energy and will help satisfy the region’s critical need for more electricity, all while supporting good local jobs.”

The Maryland Offshore Wind Project is planned in three phases, two of which have been named – MarWin and Momentum Wind – and have received offshore renewable energy certificates from the state of Maryland.

Read the full story at The Center Square

Tracking Sea Creature Stress Related to Wind Turbine Construction

December 5, 2024 — With hundreds of towering offshore wind turbines planned to be built in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, a team of local scientists is working to find out if the construction noise will hurt ocean life.

As regulators consider projects up and down the east coast, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have been simulating the booming sound of pile driving turbine monopiles to see if it has an effect on a variety of species. So far, results have been mixed.

While there’s been research into how turbine construction impacts the endangered right whale, the ocean’s small ground critters have largely been left to fend for themselves, said Aran Mooney, an associate scientist at WHOI.

“This is a knowledge gap, and it could really impact the fisheries,” he said.

The research team has been replicating construction and observing its effects on lobsters, sea scallops, flounder, squid and black sea bass. Mr. Mooney’s work was contracted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the federal agency that oversees offshore wind energy.

In the past few years, the WHOI scientists have determined the impact the noise has on squid by playing an audio recording of pile driving as they were enclosed in a tank.

“The sound profiles are pretty much the same as what we see in offshore wind, actual construction.” Mr. Mooney said.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Ocean City continues with lawsuit following US Wind receiving final approval

December 4, 2024 — US Wind, Inc. announced Tuesday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has granted final approval for the company’s Construction and Operations Plan, completing the federal permitting process for its offshore wind project.

“This is a proud moment for US Wind,” said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “After more than four years of rigorous and robust analysis, we are thrilled to have secured this final BOEM approval. US Wind’s projects will produce massive amounts of homegrown energy and will help satisfy the region’s critical need for more electricity, all while supporting good local jobs.”

The project, located in a federal lease area off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, has the potential to generate up to 2 gigawatts of offshore wind power — enough to power more than 600,000 homes in the region, according to US Wind.

However, the project has faced significant opposition from the Ocean City community and other local organizations. The Town of Ocean City, joined by groups such as the Worcester County Commissioners, Coastal Association of Realtors and the Commercial and Recreational Fishing Industry, say they will continue to move forward with a lawsuit against BOEM to challenge its approval of US Wind’s project.

Read the full story at Coast TV

US Wind Wins Final Approval for Offshore Wind Project

December 4, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued its final approval of US Wind’s construction of a wind project off the coast of Delmarva.

According to US Wind, BOEM issued the permit for the Construction and Operations Plan, the final step in the company’s ongoing federal permitting application Tuesday, December 3.

The approved project includes the construction and operation of up to 114 wind turbine generators, up to four offshore substation platforms, a meteorological tower, and offshore export cable corridors. The project could also see wind power cables coming ashore under 3Rs Beach in Delaware.

The Town of Ocean City, along with multiple co-plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit in October challenging BOEM’s approval process of US Wind’s proposed project.

Read the full story at WBOC

BOEM Publishes Final SouthCoast Wind Impact Statement

November 29, 2024 — The federal Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) recently published the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 147-turbine SouthCoast Wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

Southcoast Wind’s offshore turbines will primarily be visible off the coast of Nantucket, but the company’s pathway to profitability relies in part on permitting from the state of Rhode Island. The company plans to run a transmission cable through the state’s coastal waters, up the Sakonnet River, over Portsmouth’s Common Fence Point, and across Mount Hope Bay to Brayton Point in Somerset, Massachusetts.

The 491-page EIS document delves into details about the project’s anticipated impact on everything from fisheries and whales to underwater archaeological sites of cultural significance. It also includes a “finding of adverse effect” on nine historic locations, including two historic sites with ocean views on Nantucket and in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Read the full article at the Newport Daily News

US Senate committee approves bill directing offshore energy revenues to coastal states, fisheries research

November 27, 2024 — The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has approved a bill that would take money from offshore energy projects and redistribute it to adjacent states for coastal restoration, infrastructure, and fisheries research.

First introduced in 2021, the Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies & Ecosystems (RISEE) Act would create a new offshore wind revenue-sharing model, requiring offshore energy projects to share 37.5 percent of revenue with adjacent states. Those states can spend that money to support coastal restoration, invest in hurricane protection, improve infrastructure, or dedicate it to fisheries science and research.

The legislation was passed out of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in 2022, but never received a vote from the full Senate.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource