Concerns about endangered whale population threaten Biden-approved New Jersey offshore wind project
The Biden administration gave the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project final approval on Tuesday, but opponents of the project have threatened to file a lawsuit to block its construction.
Save Long Beach Island claims that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration downplayed the impact of wind turbines' operation noise on endangered whale populations. Save LBI also accuses the agencies of failing to address how all of the proposed New Jersey offshore wind projects will affect North Atlantic right whales' migration pattern.
The BOEM acknowledged that the Atlantic Shores South project would have a moderate impact on the right whale population. Noise from the project's construction could disrupt the behavioral and migratory patterns of the endangered mammal. However, to reduce the harm caused, the BOEM has implemented underwater noise impact minimization measures, such as having protected species observers and shutdown zones.
The BOEM’s harm mitigation strategies have been included in other offshore wind projects, such as Vineyard Wind 1 off the Massachusetts coast and South Fork off Long Island, New York.
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