By James FitzPatrick
Contributing Writer
Elected leaders representing Atlantic County have moved beyond taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to offshore wind.
They want it to stop. And they are calling on their constituents to apply pressure to the decision-makers in Trenton and Washington to make that happen.
Initial skepticism about offshore wind has evolved into full-on opposition. It was clear during a community forum Saturday, May 20, at the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School in Margate, hosted by Brigantine, Ventnor, and Margate.
Taking the stage to address the audience were U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, state Sen. Vince Polistina, Assemblywoman Claire Swift, and Brigantine Mayor Vince Sera – all Republicans, plus Bob Stern and Chris Placitelle from Save LBI.
“When this first started, I tried to keep an open mind,” said Sera, who served as emcee. Sera was one of the first local leaders to sound the alarm about offshore wind and its possible link to marine mammal deaths.
He and Brigantine officials, circulated a letter calling for a moratorium on offshore wind development until an answer could be found. It was co-signed by mayors from more than 30 surrounding communities.
“The more I learned, the more I realized how bad these things are for our environment. They don’t make sense. They don’t work, and the problem is these foreign companies are going to make money leaving us stuck here holding the bag. We can’t let that happen.”
When people first connected marine mammal deaths to sonar mapping and underwater drilling, state Sen. Vince Polistina was a moderate voice, urging that there should be a pause to allow time to do some studies and find out what’s going on. So far his request has been ignored.
Polistina is convinced that although the federal agencies are claiming “no direct impact“ from their sonar and underwater drilling activities to the whale deaths, the sea mammals are changing their behavior to avoid them.
“These animals are just so frightened, disoriented or a combination of both that they are coming in so close to shore, leading to their own demise.
“There hasn’t been a federal permit anywhere that has looked at the cumulative effect of sonar in one area and drilling in another area,” he said.
The federal government might not be listening, but the public is, according to Polistina.
“Because if you look at public sentiment in New Jersey, we are winning the battle in terms of public sentiment on this issue.”
He said worsening economic conditions may represent an opportunity to turn the tide against offshore wind as costs rise, and officials have to answer for rising energy bills.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew has been a longtime skeptic of offshore wind. But he has been an ardent critic since the “almost biblical” spike in whale and marine mammal deaths.
He said NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette tried to blame climate change.
“You don’t go from having one or two whales (die) one year to having 26 or 28 or 30 whales the next year. It really doesn’t move that quickly,” he said.
Because whale carcasses often sink before they come ashore, we don’t know how many have died, he said.
A major concern is how large the offshore wind initiative is. The program so far covers an area of more than 2 million acres. The turbines plus blades will be 1,000 feet tall with a light on top. When they rotate, you will be able to hear them from the shore, he said.
“It’s one of the biggest, most ambitious projects, not only in the United States of America, but in the entire world.”
Van Drew said it should have started with a small pilot program just like what happens when a new drug is launched.
There are many other untested and unresolved issues including the turbine blades which are made with materials that cannot be recycled.
“In other parts of the world, they are located where hurricanes do not occur. So who knows what will happen to them where we are, a place where hurricanes are fairly common,” he said.
Because there are so many unanswered questions, and so much money is on the line, Van Drew said the opposition is growing from a statewide movement to a national movement that is gaining momentum.
“There’s lots of alternatives out there. I’m not saying we shouldn’t look for a zero carbon footprint, but to do it in a way that doesn’t hurt our people, doesn’t hurt our region. I mean, they are really dumping on South Jersey.
“People around the world are going to be making money by hurting the Jersey Shore, by hurting our tourism.”
He said there are several initiatives underway including an energy bill that was passed by the House of Representatives with an amendment calling for an investigation. There are also at least three lawsuits underway against offshore wind.
But he also called for a grassroots effort.
“Tell every elected official you can. And it’s very simple. If you vote for this, if you support this, if you don’t fight this, I’m not voting for you.”
Attorney Chris Placitelle from Save LBI said documents supplied by offshore wind developer Atlantic Shores illustrate that turbines will have a dramatic visual impact not just on the coast, but as far inland as 40 miles from the project site.
Noting that a single turbine is twice the height of the Washington Monument and quoting from the Atlantic Shores report, he said the navigation lights will “become the focus of the viewer attention and could change the character of the nighttime skies forever.”
He said they could have a major impact on property values, too.
“So where are we going to get the money to fund the schools at the same level that they’re being funded now (if property values fall?) We are going to raise everybody’s taxes.”
He urged the people to unite.
“This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is about preserving our most precious natural resource.”
Bob Stern, PhD, also from Save LBI, was critical of the environmental impact statement provided by Atlantic Shores.
He said the 2,000 pages were presented with almost all of the critical decisions made.
“So after they decided on this, they come to you, plop down a 2,000-page document, and they say, hey, we really want your input. On what? Their alternatives in this document are virtually meaningless,” he said.
Sound is going to be an issue, Stern said, according to the findings of a professional study done by Save LBI.
“The noise we’re going to hear is going to exceed the New Jersey standards, the nighttime residential standards. And that is not going to be pleasant.”
There’s an expectation that the breeze and waves will be reduced by the turbines.
There will be a hearing by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on the environmental impact statement for Atlantic Shores South, 5 p.m. June 22 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, 1 Convention Blvd.
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.
