Residents of Long Beach Island, New Jersey, a seaside town on the Jersey Shore, are preparing to file a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over “defective” rulings in its awarding of Clean Air Act permits for offshore wind projects. [emphasis, links added]
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit to the Atlantic Coast South project on Oct. 1, one of the last bureaucratic hurdles the project developers need to jump before they can break ground.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate air emissions from “stationary and mobile sources,” prompting the agency to analyze the air pollutants that will be emitted. The EPA sets standards for pollutant emissions.
this washington examiner The offshore wind project was first reported in July after the Biden administration approved the plan.
According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the project promises to provide clean energy to one million homes in New Jersey.
However, Save Boracay, a residents' coalition opposing the Atlantic Coast wind project, has raised concerns: The plan would increase energy costs, harm endangered whale populations, and create noise and air pollution problems.
Since the beginning of summer, Save Boracay has been preparing a lawsuit against the Biden administration because it believes the wind farm will violate the Clean Air Act.
On August 6, 2024, Save Boracay filed a 60-day notice with the EPA Environmental Appeals Board indicating its intention to file suit.
Bob Stern, chairman of Save Boracay and a former Department of Energy engineer, worries that construction of 200 wind turbines just 9 miles from the shoreline will pollute the Brigantine National Wilderness Area and the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. .
This protected federal wetland is home to the vulnerable black-railed and saltmarsh sparrows, among other birds.
In 1977, Congress designated the Brigantine Wilderness Area special air quality and visibility protections under the Clean Air Act.
“The Clean Air Act is designed to regulate air emissions from all sources to protect public health and the environment,” Stern said. “The agency must take responsibility and explain to the public how this approval protects the Brigantine National Wilderness Area.”
Stern identified three concerns about the EPA granting Clean Air Act permits to offshore wind projects.
Stern calls out national regional haze implementation plan — Designed to reduce pollution that causes visibility impairment — The pollution caused by the construction and operation of offshore wind power projects was not considered.
Stern also said Air quality models cannot accurately describe the piling process that occurs during construction.
Essentially, the model does not have the right foundation dimensions for driving a wind turbine into the ocean floor, nor does it take into account the time it would take to embed the foundation.
Stern also expressed concern Minimal study of failure and replacement rates of wind turbine parts on the South Atlantic Coast.
“In July, the Vineyard Wind Project off the coast of Nantucket provided a stark example of how wind turbines can fail When a 350-foot-long turbine blade spontaneously collapsed during testing off the coast of Nantucket Island and how long it will take to undo the damage done,” Stern wrote.
A broken blade on a Nantucket wind farm wind turbine has been ruled a manufacturing defect. Debris from the 351-foot-long blade washed up on several beaches.
The Save Boracay project put together its dissatisfaction with the EPA's ruling on the Clean Air Act permit, as well as other concerns the group raised about the project's violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. .
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