Opponents of Massachusetts Offshore Wind Project to File Lawsuit

Environmentally concerned citizens will file a lawsuit in federal court in Boston on Wednesday in opposition to a proposed offshore wind energy farm. The lawsuit aims to stop the industrialization of Massachusetts’ coastal ecosystem that would result from the construction of over 2,000 offshore wind turbines off of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, they announced in a press release. The plaintiffs will hold a press conference outside the Massachusetts State House. The press conference will begin on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. It will be in person and streamed on Facebook live. Members of beach communities and public policy institutes from North Carolina to Maine have joined together as watchdogs against “misguided federal and state offshore wind policy,” according to the release. City Council members in Ocean City have strongly objected to plans for a wind farm by the Danish energy company Orsted that would include 99 huge wind turbines 15 miles off the coast from Atlantic City to Stone Harbor. They fear the project will harm the Jersey Shore’s tourism industry, commercial fishing operations and the environment. “Working independently these groups are finding legitimate concerns that wind projects are moving forward without adequate studies of the potential impacts on the environment, beach and fishing economies, and critical animal species,” the release stated. An informal coalition has been formed to share information, resources and strategies to protect beach communities from “permanent interference in established patterns of oceanfront life,” according to the release Details of the multistate coalition will be announced during the press conference Wednesday in Boston.