Massive Offshore Wind Project Gets Underway With Permission To ‘Take’ Endangered Whales
Story by Nick Pope • Friday
A large offshore wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard has begun nearly two years after federal regulators approved “take” permits for the project’s developer allowing for thousands of incidental killings of marine mammals, including dozens of whales protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and up to 20 endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Federal regulation allows for the approval of take permits for marine life so long as the permitted number of incidental deaths has a minimal effect on the longer-term viability of the species.
The construction process for the turbines necessitates underwater blasts of noise which “are louder than a jet engine at 25 yards” of distance, New England Fishermen Stewardship Association (NEFSA) President Jerry Leeman told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
A large offshore wind farm development project is underway off the Massachusetts coast nearly two years after the project’s developer received 20 “take” permits in June 2021 for the endangered right whale from environmental bureaucrats and regulators.
Vineyard Wind began offshore construction of the 62- wind turbine project Thursday, according to WBUR. During this summer’s construction of the offshore wind farm some 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, the company is permitted to incidentally kill up to 20 endangered right whales, according to the Federal Register entry for the project.
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