Save Long Beach Island, a community group created in opposition to a massive offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey , filed its second lawsuit to block the construction of an Atlantic Shores South project.
In its lawsuit against Atlantic Shore South Offshore Wind, Save Long Beach Island requested that the court require offshore wind developers to conduct a full “airborne noise assessment and pilot project before the project can proceed.”
Bob Stern, president of Save Long Beach Island, notes how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Atlantic Shores South failed to conduct an analysis of the project’s construction and operation on generating noise pollution for residents and beachgoers. However, the Bureau of Ocean Management did find that noise from the construction of turbines would have a negative effect on marine life.
“In addition to creating underwater noise that puts marine mammals at risk, the heavy diesel-powered hammer that will be used to ‘pile drive’ two hundred 50-foot-diameter steel foundations into the seabed will create significant airborne noise," said Bob Stern, president and co-founder of Save LBI. “And that noise will be audible on shore because sound can travel much better over water.”
Concerned that the construction of nearly 200 windmills just 8.7 miles off the New Jersey coast will create noises far above various city ordinances’ acceptable levels, Save Long Beach Island turned to a Scottish-based engineering consulting firm to conduct its own study.
“The results are rather startling,” Stern said. “The level of noise created by pile driving and turbine operation would exceed noise levels known to cause health problems and sleep and other disturbances.”
The analysis conducted by the firm found that the pile driving needed to construct the windmills would violate the 50-decibel noise ordinance set in Brigantine, New Jersey, one of the coastal cities affected by the project. Save Long Beach Island compares this noise level to that of an electric fan but one that would pulsate, “making it more disturbing.”
While the model found that the turbine operations were within the limits of various city ordinances, the study found that in “inversion conditions," which “frequently occur in the summer when air temperature and wind speed increase with height above the water and accentuate the noise travel,” noise levels violate the standards set in New Jersey's Brigantine, Beach Haven, and Long Beach Township.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Bureau of Ocean Management, but the agency declined to comment on pending litigation. The Washington Examiner also reached out to the Atlantic Shores South project.
Save Long Beach Island has a laundry list of concerns regarding the construction of these offshore wind turbines, from raising energy prices for residents to posing a threat to marine and bird life and negatively affecting the economy of the beach towns, as these turbines would obstruct the view of the shoreline.
Just last month, Save Long Beach Island filed its first lawsuit in an attempt to block the project over concerns that it would negatively affect the air quality of a protected wetland.
The Atlantic Shores South project was approved by the Biden administration in July — the ninth offshore wind project to be approved by the administration.
Atlantic Shore South Offshore Wind holds three different leases totaling more than 400 square miles with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. There are plans for two separate projects with two lease areas located off New Jersey's shore between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light and the third lease located in an area of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bight.
Construction for the first leg of the project is projected to begin in 2024 — given that all permits are cleared.
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As the Biden administration seeks to increase the construction of offshore wind projects, other local community groups are also seeking to fight back against the projects.
Just on Friday, the Confederated Tribes of Coos announced its lawsuit against the federal government to block Oregon’s first-ever offshore wind energy auction. The sale will consist of nearly 195,000 acres within the tribes’ ancestral territory. The tribes are concerned about how the turbines will affect the marine wildlife habitat and critical fish.
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