Can a challenge to Vineyard Wind 1 stop other offshore projects? Supreme Court appealed.

• A coalition of fishing groups is challenging the federal government’s approval of the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project.
• The approval of Vineyard Wind 1 paved the way for about 35 other projects, says one of the people behind the appeal.

A coalition of commercial fishing groups is challenging the federal government’s approval of the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project, and by extension all offshore development authorizations that followed, in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance has submitted a petition to the court seeking a review of how the Department of the Interior applied the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to grant authorization for the 806-megawatt development south of Martha’s Vineyard.

“The petition filed with SCOTUS is regarding the correct interpretation of OCSLA, which allowed for the approval of Vineyard Wind 1, the first offshore wind facility,” said RODA Executive Director Lane Johnson.

She noted that approximately 35 other offshore wind projects that came after and are “in various stages of government approval or under construction, followed the same approval process, using the same interpretation of OCSLA.”

The act, which governs the use of U.S. waters for activities like oil drilling and offshore wind development, includes a provision that requires the secretary of the interior to “ensure” that approved projects do not interfere with “reasonable uses” of the ocean, such as fishing. However, RODA argues, the department’s approval of Vineyard Wind 1 rests on an interpretation that views “ensure” as just suggestion to “consider” the effects on fisheries rather than a decisive mandate to protect them.

Johnson explained the interpretation is important “because the accelerated offshore wind program will cover millions of acres of federal submerged lands with thousands of turbines, thousands of miles of underwater cables connecting the projects to the electric grid, and thousands of acres of underwater construction, including massive boulders and concrete mattresses.”

RODA’s stance is that the Interior Department’s decision to allow Vineyard Wind 1 to move forward disregards the law’s intent, jeopardizes the sustainability of the seafood industry, and threatens the livelihoods of fishermen, as well as the coastal communities that rely on the fisheries.

“We are asking the court to provide guidance on the correct statutory interpretation so future ocean energy projects are reviewed according to the criteria provided by Congress,” she said.

Why is the fishing industry concerned about offshore wind?

Fishermen have raised alarms about offshore wind energy since 2013, when the first offshore wind auction was held, but say their voices have largely gone unheard during the federal approval process.

“The commercial fishing industry has time after time tried to work within the current federal process, but nothing we have said has truly mattered,” Johnson said. “Years of outreach, and thousands of pages of comments to BOEM later, our jobs and our industry, the people who harvest wild-caught, sustainable seafood for this nation, have been ignored. We have no choice but to petition the court for relief.”

While fishing fleets and fisheries operate differently across regions and use different kinds of gear, she said, all fishermen “are subject to complex and variable management restrictions to ensure sustainable harvesting practices,” and all “go where the resource is, within the constraints of a fishery management plan.”

“Long story short, most fishermen can’t simply ‘go someplace else,’” she said.

Johnson explained the difficulties fishermen face in areas where offshore wind development is proposed or already taking place.

“These turbine generators, surrounded by thousands of tons of rock and concrete, connected to onshore electrical substations by thousands of miles of high-voltage electrical cables, are increasingly blocking access to essential fishing grounds, excluding commercial fishermen and their vessels from their historic fishing areas by making it inaccessible to fish in those areas with traditional methodology such as nets or dredges, creating dangerous navigation hazards and obstacles,” she said.

Could offshore wind alter the marine environment?

RODA asserts that the developments “will forever alter the pristine ocean marine environment … and have lasting effects to US commerce, navigational safety, search and rescue operations, commercial, charter, and recreational fishing, and public enjoyment of our waters.”

Vineyard Wind 1, touted as the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in U.S. waters, is constructing 62 turbines. RODA points out that these 62 are among up to 3,000 turbines associated with projects that are either under development or proposed in U.S. waters.

In March 2021, the White House under the Biden Administration unveiled a plan to significantly boost offshore wind energy, aiming to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. That effort has come to a standstill since President Donald Trump took office, with an executive order to pause projects still undergoing permitting, as well as new proposals, pending a federal review.

Vineyard Wind did not respond to a request for comment on RODA’s petition.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com.

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