NJ Wind Farm Construction Can Harm Whales, Birds, More: Federal Report

JERSEY SHORE ? The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Monday released a new report that said whales, dolphins, birds and more can indeed be harmed ? and killed ?by offshore wind farms.

BOEM also warned commercial fishing could be disrupted by wind farms.

The report is an environmental impact statement BOEM was required to conduct of these six existing wind farm sites that were previously approved off New Jersey/Long Island.

Wind turbine construction actually does increase the risk of injury to whales, particularly the underwater noise from pile-driving during construction, the federal report found. Turbine construction can permanently damage whales' hearing. Turbines can also lead to an "increased risk of individual injury and mortality due to vessel strikes" and entanglement in fishing gear.

Additionally, bats and birds could die by flying into moving wind turbines.

You can read the 620-page report here. Risks to marine life begin on page 609, under what BOEM calls "unavoidable adverse impacts."

It reads as follows:

"Even with AMMM (avoidance, minimization, mitigation and monitoring) measures, development would still result in unavoidable adverse impacts," the report reads. "Most potential unavoidable adverse impacts associated with the Proposed Action (building of wind turbines) would occur during the construction phase and would be temporary."

Bats: Displacement and avoidance behavior due to habitat loss/alteration, equipment noise and vessel traffic. Individual mortality due to collisions with operating WTGs (WTG stands for wind turbine generator)

Birds: Displacement and avoidance behavior due to habitat loss or alteration, equipment noise, and vessel traffic. Individual mortality due to collisions with operating WTGs (wind turbines)

Marine mammals: Increased risk of injury (TTS or PTS, scientific terms for temporary or permanent loss of hearing) to individuals due to underwater noise from pile-driving activities during construction. Disturbance (behavioral effects) and acoustic masking due to underwater noise from pile-driving, vessel traffic, aircraft, wind turbine operation, and dredging during construction and operations. Presence of (wind turbine) structures resulting in hydrodynamic effects that influence primary and secondary productivity and availability of prey and forage resources. Increased risk of individual injury and mortality due to vessel strikes. Increased risk of individual injury and mortality associated with fisheries gear.

Sea turtles: Increased risk for individual injury and mortality due to vessel strikes during construction and installation, O&M (operations and maintenance), and conceptual decommissioning. Increased risk of individual injury and mortality associated with fisheries gear. Disturbance, displacement and avoidance behavior due to habitat disturbance and underwater noise during construction.

On page 106, the report said:

"Moderate impacts are expected for non-NARW (North American Right Whale) marine mammals due to non-offshore wind-related fishing gear utilization, pile driving and UXO detonation noise (UXO detonations are underwater explosions of any type), and vessel strikes ... Major impacts on the North American Right Whale would be expected from vessel strikes and non-offshore wind-related fishing gear utilization; moderate due to presence of structures and noise from impact pile-driving and UXO detonation."

Commercial Fisheries and For-Hire Recreational Fishing: Disruption of access or temporary restriction in harvesting activities due to construction; disruption of harvesting activities during operations of offshore wind facilities; changes in vessel transit and fishing operation patterns; changes in risk of gear entanglement or availability of target species; Loss of employment or income due to disruption to commercial fishing, for-hire recreational fishing, or marine recreation businesses; Hindrances to subsistence fishing due to offshore construction and operation of the offshore wind facilities. (Pages 610-611)

A BOEM spokesman said the federal agency is required to list all the "potential unavoidable adverse impacts" associated with wind farms off New Jersey. He also said the risks can be mitigated through the measures they listed here.

"Populations are expected to recover completely when stressors are removed," BOEM wrote. BOEM also said if wind turbine construction is spaced out, and does not happen at all six sites at once, the sound damage from underwater pile driving will be reduced.

NJ DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said the DEP had not thoroughly reviewed the 620-page report "and therefore can?t comment on it at this time."

But he did say:

"There is no documented scientific evidence linking offshore wind energy activities to whale deaths. The sounds produced during different offshore wind development phases are insufficient to cause mortality. Vessel collisions have the potential to injure or kill whales. However, offshore wind vessels comprise a very small portion of all vessels in the marine environment, and they operate in a more precautionary manner to avoid the types of collisions that occur with other industries."

BOEM agreed boat strikes are likely the reason why there has been an increase in humpback whale deaths since 2016. On page 238:

"A recent uptick in large whale strandings during late 2022 and early 2023 along the New Jersey and New York coastlines, primarily of humpback whales, is currently being evaluated by National Marine Fisheries Service. However, there is no causal connection between recent offshore wind development and large whale mortality, and such assumption is contrary to the scientific consensus. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that offshore wind activity is not a cause of these marine mammal mortalities. Instead, the scientific community has determined the Unusual Mortality Event for humpback whales is primarily caused by non-offshore-wind vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements."

NJ Congressman Chris Smith, a Republican who is against the wind farms, said the federal government is "gaslighting" the public. He also pointed to a similar report BOEM released in May about Atlantic Shores wind farm, with the same adverse impact warnings (page 549).

?Those who are recklessly advancing offshore wind at all costs ? including and especially officials at BOEM and NOAA and in Gov. Murphy?s administration ? have been gaslighting the general public for years by disingenuously insisting that the rapid, unprecedented industrialization of our ocean will not have adverse impacts,? said Rep. Smith. ?In fact, we know that these projects will cause significant harm in part from these federal agencies, which are required by law to list all the anticipated adverse impacts. Fortunately, local anglers and residents haven?t been fooled."

Smith said an independent audit, which he called for, is currently underway on the impact wind farms will have on whales, other marine life and commercial fishing.

Not a single wind turbine has been built yet off the Jersey Shore. However, starting in 2019, ocean floor surveying was done off Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties, to study the seabed for suitable turbine locations.

BOEM, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the NJ DEP all maintain the seismic sound waves used in surveying do not harm whales. This week, NJDEP spokesman Hajna said their 2023 statement is still accurate: There is no evidence that sonar used in offshore wind surveys causes whale deaths.

So far, two major companies have pulled out of their plans to build wind farms off New Jersey, saying it is too expensive.

Last Halloween, Danish company Orsted made the surprise 3 a.m. announcement they were pulling out of their plans to build Ocean Wind 1 and 2 off Atlantic City. This was after the NJ Legislature gave them nearly $500 million in tax breaks to build the wind farms.

Then, in January, Equinor and British Petroleum (BP) announced they terminated their agreement with New York state to build Empire Wind 2, which would have been built on 80,000 acres of ocean about 19 miles out and stretched from Sandy Hook to Long Branch.

BP cited "inflation, interest rates and supply chain disruptions" as reasons for canceling the project. The company also said there are "changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale.

BOEM said their Oct. 21 report is the result of five public meetings it held in early 2024, and "eight regional environmental justice forums between 2022 and 2024 to receive input on the wind farms from local community members, government partners and ocean users."

"The BOEM announcement says it conferred with 'stakeholders,'" said Bob Stern of Save LBI, which is against the wind farms. "I don't know who those were, but we were not invited to the party."

His group is suing the federal government to stop any wind farm construction.