Congressman Jeff Van Drew will be holding his first hearing in South Jersey on March 16 regarding offshore wind projects being built off the coast of New Jersey, with the time and location to be announced in the coming weeks, according to a news release.
Van Drew also announced Friday that he will be introducing legislation that places a moratorium on all existing wind farm projects and legislation that will prohibit all future projects.
"The unknown impacts of these offshore wind projects raises serious concerns, especially after 18 whales have washed ashore near where surveying is taking place, six of which have been in New Jersey," Van Drew said in the release.
He continued, "These projects will have substantial impacts on the local tourism industry, the fishing industry, and the surrounding environment. As Vice Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am holding these hearings in order to discover what exactly these impacts will be and to determine what additional pieces of legislation will be adequate to address the issue."
He said that as a result of these comprehensive hearings, it will determine what the best course of action will be and if additional pieces of legislation are needed.
In a related development Friday, the state Board of Public Utilities approved a transmission line that will connect the offshore wind turbines with the land-based electric grid at a substation near the former B.L. England power plant in Marmora.
Officials in Ocean City and Cape May County objected to the transmission line, arguing that it could harm environmentally sensitive areas of the beach and marshlands.
The BPU relied on a controversial state law that allows the regulatory agency to bypass local authorities while granting approvals for permits and easements needed for the wind farm project. Cape May County and Ocean City officials have repeatedly denounced the law as a way to unfairly override their “home rule.”
The transmission line will come ashore at the beach at 35th Street in Ocean City. It will travel west to Bay Avenue, north on Bay Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard, west across Peck Bay at Roosevelt Boulevard Bridge and then continue on to Route 9 to property near the former B.L. England plant, according to Orsted’s petition.
BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said the route of the proposed transmission line will not harm Ocean City or Cape May County aesthetically or economically, the Associated Press reported.
“I just want to assure the public that we don't take these kinds of actions lightly,” Fiordaliso said. “There has to be a definite public need for the board to even consider this kind of action. This is something that the majority of us believes will benefit the citizens of New Jersey."
Orsted, a Danish energy company, has faced intense opposition from elected officials representing Ocean City and Cape May County as it has moved forward with plans for nearly 100 towering wind turbines that would be placed 15 miles offshore between Atlantic City and Stone Harbor.
Orsted's project, one of three approved so far for the waters off southern New Jersey, still needs numerous additional state and federal approvals, according to the Associated Press.
