Vineyard Wind wins whale lawsuit

Vineyard Wind wins whale lawsuit | Windpower Monthly

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the under-construction 800MW Vineyard Wind project, after a solar company executive claimed the wind farm would endanger right whales off the coast of Massachusetts.

Thomas Melone, a lawyer who lives part-time on Cape Cod, had sued Janet Coit, assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and Vineyard Wind, the joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

He argued that the defendants violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act – claiming that the pile-driving needed to install foundations at the wind farm would cause whales to suffer – and asked for the project’s permitting approvals to be revoked.

However, Judge Indira Talwani of the Massachusetts District Court disagreed, and said that reasonable precautions were being taken to protect marine mammals.

Talwani had previously ruled in favour of Vineyard and other defendants in another case against the wind project, filed by two local residents.

Residents and fishing groups have filed four suits against the Vineyard Wind project.

The wind farm is under construction off Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and is expected to start generating power possibly as early as October, with full commissioning due in 2024.