The Preservation Society of Newport County, known for its seaside mansions, is suing the federal government over the permitting process of offshore wind energy projects off Martha's Vineyard.
A Rhode Island nonprofit known for its seaside mansions is suing the federal government over the permitting process for offshore wind energy projects off Martha’s Vineyard.
The Preservation Society of Newport County filed a lawsuit in a D.C. federal court earlier this month against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), saying the presence of hundreds of wind turbines off the New England coast will ruin the views of the ocean from several of its historic coastal properties.
The society claims that BOEM failed to adequately consider the economic impacts to historic properties when approving the South Fork Wind project and during the reviews of other wind farms. The nonprofit owns several grand estates such as the Breakers mansion along the Rhode Island coast and asserts BOEM bowed to political pressure in speedily greenlighting turbines.
“Despite acknowledging the industrialized wind farms’ adverse impacts, BOEM has succumbed to intense political pressure to conduct a sham consulting process with numerous skipped steps and foregone conclusions, shirking its responsibility to the public and allowing corporate energy developers to set the terms for permitting,” the society wrote in its Nov. 22 appeal.
The lawsuit is one of several that have been lobbed at the nascent offshore wind energy projects in the U.S.
Vineyard Wind, the 62-turbine project under construction off the Island’s south shore, has successfully fended off several challenges.
The newest suit largely revolves around the South Fork Wind approval process, but the preservation society also says that Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, two other projects planned for the waters off the Vineyard, will all “inflict severe and long-lasting effects” on the heritage and tourism-driven economy of Newport.
“South Fork’s visual effects, along with those of its related projects, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, are expected to harm the integrity of historic properties by creating an industrialized viewshed that will despoil pristine views of the Atlantic Ocean,” the nonprofit wrote.
A BOEM spokesperson declined to comment on the case, citing the pending litigation.
In the 16-page complaint, the society contends that BOEM broke the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act when it approved South Fork Wind and did not consider the cumulative impacts of Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind.
All three are being developed by Orsted, a Danish energy company. South Fork Wind, a 12-turbine farm, is currently under construction in the waters south of the Vineyard and Block Island and east of Long Island.
Revolution Wind received federal approvals in August, and is one of the closest projects to Aquinnah.
The project plans to erect 65 turbines about 14 miles away from the Gay Head Cliffs. Because some turbines would be in view of several cultural sites in the up-Island town, Aquinnah is expecting to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars in mitigation funds.
Earlier this year, the town negotiated commitments from wind developers for about $825,000 for the Gay Head Lighthouse and about $500,000 for improvements at Aquinnah circle.
Neither Revolution Wind nor South Fork Wind are planning to bring electricity into Massachusetts.
Comments
New Jersey beat Orsted, keep
Moe MenemshaNew Jersey beat Orsted, keep up the good work Newport, Vineyard fishermen have your back!
Thanks for this article. But
Chris Daly AquinnahThanks for this article. But I'd like to raise an issue for future stories on this topic. When posting photos, please indicate whether the photographer was onshore or out at sea and whether the photographer used any zoom lens.
Thanks.
A quick question for the
Dick AquinnahA quick question for the Preservation Society: Did Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt give a single thought to the location and construction of the Breakers? Its view from the ocean? From its neighbors and adjacent town? After all, it was a mere five stories, 70 rooms and 125,000 square feet. Who could object to that?
My thoughts exactly.
Carla A Cooper EdgartownMy thoughts exactly.
Give me a break!
Mark VHGive me a break!
Face the truth MV.. So it's
Roddy Seasonal VisitorFace the truth MV.. So it's OK to look the other way at the valid bases of all these lawsuits.. not to mention the utter waste of taxpayer dollars.. as long as you get a little local pet project payola from the windfarm developers to help grease it all. And there it is.
The means of production of
Albert GosnoldThe means of production of electricity must never be visible to our high value seasonal visitors. Put that stuff near the poor.
I'm really getting tired of
Carol formerly ChilmarkI'm really getting tired of these NIMBY idiots, both on the Cape and now RI. They care so much about their water views - do they care about sea level rise? losing all of the beaches? Any marine biologist will tell you that marine life is in far more danger from climate change than from these wind turbines. I hate it that some birds will die by flying into them, but since about 100 times more birds die by flying into highrises (yes, that's true), maybe the breathless outrage about bird death should be directed first to those building owners. In the meantime, I very much want offshore wind - we need the clean electricity - and everyone I know on MV and here on the Cape does, too.
Agreed, and the bird argument
Ted A. Vineyard HavenAgreed, and the bird argument against windmills is total nonsense. Cats kill between 2 and 4 billion birds a year, and that's just in the US. Maybe we should ban cats first.
Ruining the view strikes me
TisKid MVRuining the view strikes me as the most pretentious argument possible against energy projects like this. They're fine with someone else having a view of a nuclear or gas plant. How dare they have to look at a windmill miles away? Don't us peons understand the entitlement of people with water views?
I think so often of how the
Name HereI think so often of how the great impressionist painters included the signs of modern industry in their paintings - trains, ships, smokestacks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you decide the modern solutions to problems - like these windmills - are beautiful then you shift the narrative a d they become beautiful.
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