'Worse than I thought': Anger flows at Ocean City presentation on offshore wind projects - Delmarva Now

Anger flows at Ocean City presentation on offshore wind projects

'Worse than I thought': Anger flows at Ocean City presentation on offshore wind projects
Kristian Jaime

Amid a line of residents that that spanned the length of Ocean City Elementary School, the public got their chance to sound off on the preliminary impact statement for proposed offshore wind development.

The listening session held Tuesday evening by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was an opportunity to see slides from the official Maryland Offshore Wind Draft Environmental Impact Statement for locations in both Ocean City and Bethany Beach. That, however, still left many in attendance unsatisfied.

BOEM: Offshore wind energy plan 'not a done deal'

The expansive report covers everything from permits, proposed construction details and likely impacts on the view scape in both locations. Data also outlined implications on the ecosystem and sea floor in the proposed lease area.

"This is an opportunity for the public to speak with our subject matter experts and get answers to any questions and get their public comment," said Lorena Edenfield, an environmental protection specialist for BOEM. "Their comments will influence the final Environmental Impact Statement. This isn't a done deal and we're in the middle of the environmental review process."

Edenfield noted revisions could still be made with a formally submitted Construction and Operation Plan still being able to be approved, denied or approved with modification. A 45-day public comment period on the draft statement started on Oct. 6 during which the public has an opportunity to submit written comments, attend in-person meetings, or two virtual meetings.

“This is the most significant step forward in the history of Maryland offshore wind," said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO, in a previously released statement. "BOEM’s draft environmental impact statement sets us on a path toward starting construction on our offshore wind projects in 2025, putting Maryland’s goals that much closer to reality. We are proud to be the first to deliver this clean energy to Delmarva and look forward to the day we can get steel in the water.”

More on public comments Ocean City and wind energy: How to make your voice heard on impact statement

'It's worse than I thought': Ocean City meeting attendees respond

Much of the public, including elected officials in attendance, took umbrage that it was not a town hall meeting but rather a presentation of slides from the report, with members of the bureau available for questions.

"It's worse than I thought it was going to be," said Lucy Whittman, a vacation property owner in Delaware. "I expected to see some of the turbines but hoped it wouldn't be visible. But what I'm seeing right now is horrible. We have two properties in Delaware that we've had for over 10 years, but we've been visiting for 40 years. It's very concerning the speed in which this development occurred."

For Whittman and many others reviewing the slides, their solution was to stop the project altogether.

"I'm concerned that there's nothing we can do to stop it at this point. This is a tragic interruption of pristine coastline," Whittman said.

'Closer and much larger': Concerns only increase for some in audience

For others, like Ocean City resident Martin Branagan, the main issue was lack of transparency in the proposed construction plan. Branagan noted initial discussions on potential offshore wind development had the structures further from the coastline and with considerably smaller turbines.

"Now it's closer and much larger, and I don't think this company cares because they're out to make money," Branagan said. "The problem is that if the leadership in Annapolis wants it, it's going through regardless of what the public here today thinks. The company has already lied about where it's going to be and its size, so once they approve this project, there's no telling what other changes they'll make to plans."

That same skepticism was echoed by many who questioned where (the transfer lines from the turbines) come to shore and where the electricity substations were to be placed to process and transfer the created energy.

Also like many in attendance, relocating to areas like Ocean City and Bethany Beach was centered around the natural beauty of the locale. With many seeing the revised view scape of the shore for the first time, residents lamented the project going further into development.

"I lived in Baltimore my whole life and I always wanted to live here even as a child, so we moved 12 years ago," Branagan said. "This isn't what we came here for and I'm not planning on moving, but if we did, what would these towers do to my property value? For people on the beach, this is even more of an eyesore than the company initially proposed."

More on where offshore wind already is Moore wants Maryland to lead on offshore wind, and here's how Crisfield is already pioneer

US Wind and Ørsted currently have federal leasing agreements to operate their scores of turbines in the ocean between 15 to 21 miles off the coast of Maryland. The Baltimore-based US Wind is considering properties in Ocean City for the maintenance and operations of the turbines that are scheduled to be operational by 2026.