By James FitzPatrick
Contributing Writer
With whale deaths and other major uncertainties still unresolved, are we ready to commit to a decades-long mass industrialization of the ocean?
That was one of the key questions posed by Brigantine Mayor Vince Sera as the city played host to its third meeting on state and federal government plans to turn vast sections of ocean off of Brigantine and Atlantic City into a sea of wind turbines.
In front of a packed house at the Brigantine Community School Saturday, Feb. 11, local state and federal lawmakers, citizen advocates and concerned neighbors expressed their concerns about a project by Atlantic Shores to build 110 wind turbines in a 183,000-acre section of ocean as close as 10 miles off of Atlantic City.
In June of 2021, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities awarded 2,658 MW of offshore wind capacity to EDF/Shell’s Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project, and Orsted’s 82-turbine Ocean Wind II, to be located about 15 miles out to sea.
In June of 2019, Orsted got the greenlight for 1,100 MW for its 98-turbine Ocean Wind 1, also 15 miles out. The wind farms are in line with Gov. Phil Murphy’s master plan to be producing 100 percent clean, renewable energy in New Jersey by the year 2050.
The issue blew up in December when whale deaths suddenly became a chronic problem on New Jersey and New York beaches.
One theory about the cause of the whale mortalities blames sonar mapping of the seafloor being conducted in preparation for the installation of wind turbine monopoles. Sonar can affect whales’ natural sensitivity to sound.
Sera noted that the Brigantine-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center has been tracking whale washup data since 2002. He said there are typically about seven per year.
“We’ve had eight in a couple of weeks,” he said. “What’s going on?”
So far the most commonly cited explanation is ship strikes.
“I don’t doubt that, but what’s causing these whales to all of a sudden not know how to navigate around boats? That’s the question,” he said.
Brigantine has been the leader among local governments calling for a moratorium on offshore wind development until experts can come to an agreement on what’s happening. Sera explained how Brigantine’s actions have grown into a movement.
On Jan. 18, Brigantine City Council passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on all ocean wind development activity until it can be proved that there is no connection between the whale deaths and the wind farm development. He pointed out that other municipalities have adopted the same or similar resolutions and the number keeps growing.
On Jan 30, 12 mayors of New Jersey coastal towns signed a letter calling for an immediate moratorium on all offshore wind activity “pending a thorough investigation by federal and state authorities.” The mayors express their concern about “the unprecedented number of whales that have washed ashore recently.”
The letter was sent to Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez. It also went to Reps. Jeff Van Drew, Frank Pallone, and Chis Smith.
Signing the letter were officials representing Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Linwood, Brigantine, Long Beach Township, Mantoloking, Bay Head, Point Pleasant Beach, Spring Lake and Deal.
On hand at the meeting, Rep. Jeff Van Drew said the wind farms will do more harm than good and are making billions at the expense of our local economy, especially tourism, and fishing.
“We want business and we want to create jobs, but you don’t create jobs by destroying the environment, by destroying other jobs, by destroying fishing, by destroying tourism, by destroying our environment,” said Van Drew. “That’s not the way that you do it.”
He said he will seek legislation in Congress calling for an offshore wind moratorium on the East Coast.
“This is about freedom. We don’t want it,” he said. “We live here, but it’s being forced upon us regardless of what we say and what we do and that’s wrong.”
He said it’s a major issue and he expects to hold hearings around March 16 locally and in Washington.
“You are at a crossroads right now. This is one of the biggest issues of our time.“
He said it will take thousands of people to go against global big money interests who are only in it for profit. Fighting back is especially difficult considering that the state took away the right of home rule when it comes to wind turbines, the former state senator said.
State Sen. Vince Polistina was more diplomatic when it came to his turn to speak, noting that there were wind power supporters and trades people in the audience. Offshore wind is expected to create thousands of new construction jobs and hundreds more long-term maintenance jobs in the state.
Polistina called for a 30-day pause to allow time to find out what is happening.
“Let’s take a break. Let’s take a deep breath and let’s try to figure out what’s going on together,” he said. “We all have an obligation to try to understand what is going on and in a 30-day period we could have the full necropsies and we could also get clarity from the federal regulators and from the companies that are doing it.”
Keith Moore and Katie Finnegan were on hand from Defend Brigantine Beach.
The grassroots organization began in December as a Facebook group and has grown to more than 1,800 members in just seven weeks, noted Finnegan who does a lot of the posting on the page. The organization has gained 501c3 status and is in the process of raising money to fund potential litigation against the wind farm projects, she explained.
“Our mission is to defend Brigantine Beach from the two planned industrial wind turbine projects which we believe will devastate our beach economy and our environment and New Jersey’s coasts,” Finnegan said.
She said the group needs volunteers to help out with events and donations to mount legal challenges.
Keith Moore explained how local interests were not consulted when the government’s offshore energy push began in 2016.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management leased coastal areas to wind developers with little public input or regard for environmental and economic impacts such as the ones that we can expect locally, he said.
“From then the surveys were issued and we really had no public outreach or any meaningful role in decisions to allocate hundreds of thousands of acres off our shores,” he said. “And that needs to be changed.”
He warned that the potential impact on electrical rates could be significant if the full green energy plan goes forward.
While Defend Brigantine Beach believes in responsible, green energy, he called Atlantic Shores irresponsible, reckless, and unproven technology.
Chris Placitella from Save LBI notes how Atlantic Shores’ own documents explain in detail how the wind turbines are going to be visible from just about anywhere near the coast, that includes rivers and bays, day and night.
Mayor Sera explained that each one will be about 1,400 feet tall, about the size of the Empire State Building.
“We have over 100 million people visit our state every year,” Placitella said. “The number one reason people come here is the Jersey Shore. Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties account for $17.8 billion in tax revenues and over 100,000 tourism jobs, which are at risk.”
He said the solution is to build them farther out at sea.
Photos courtesy of Real Brigantine
Copyeditor and Contributing Writer James FitzPatrick has been a community journalist in Atlantic and Cape May counties for more than 30 years, including 20 years as editor of The Current Newspapers. He lives in Hammonton.
