Saving Seafood

Save LBI files notice of intent to sue Atlantic Shores to halt offshore wind project

October 9, 2024 — Citizens group Save Long Beach Island has notified federal agencies of its intent to sue offshore wind developer Atlantic Shores under the Endangered Species Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Act.

The notices give the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 60 days to resolve issues raised in the filings before the group pursues litigation, according to a news release from Save LBI.

An Atlantic Shores spokesperson said the company cannot comment on active litigation.

Read the full article at the The Press of Atlantic City

Three groups are suing New Jersey to block an offshore wind farm

May 6, 2024 — Three anti-wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island.

Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ filed suit in appellate court on April 26 challenging a determination by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that the Atlantic Shores wind farm project meets the requirements of a federal coastal protection law.

Atlantic Shores is one of three proposed wind farms off New Jersey’s coast that have preliminary approval.

Bruce Afran, an attorney for the groups, said the state’s “approval flies in the face of the federal regulator’s environmental impact statement that says the Atlantic Shores project will damage marine habitat, compress and harden the seafloor, damage marine communities, compromise migration corridors for endangered species, and cause commercial fishing stocks to decline.”

Read the full story from AP News

Biden Clean Power Push Hits New York With Offshore Wind Sale

January 12, 2022 — The Biden administration is preparing to sell offshore wind rights near New Jersey and New York, a down-payment on its bid to decarbonize the U.S. power grid and generate renewable electricity from nearly all U.S. coasts.

Under the auction, which could be announced as soon as Wednesday, the U.S. government aims to sell leases to install wind turbines in shallow Atlantic waters between New Jersey and New York’s Long Island, with the potential to generate some 7 gigawatts of carbon-free electricity.

As a sign of the opposition, a conservation group on Monday sued the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, asking a federal court to reverse the agency’s March 2021 decision to recommend five areas for offshore wind projects in the New York Bight.

Save Long Beach Island told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the bureau failed to study the effects the projects would have on the environment. The group also faulted the agency for failing to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine if any wind project would affect North Atlantic right whales or other protected species.

Separately Tuesday, groups representing fishing interests, including the Responsible Offshore Development Association, urged the bureau to take more steps to limit the impacts of offshore wind development, including by developing formal benchmarks to assess projects.

Read the full story at Bloomberg