Noise from vessels installing offshore wind turbines from the SouthCoast Wind project has the potential to have “moderate adverse” impacts on endangered North Atlantic right whales, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (NOAA Fisheries)
A 147-turbine offshore wind project planned off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard will not harm local species and habitat any more than climate change already is, according to a federal review published on Friday.
One exception: North Atlantic right whales, which could face “moderate adverse” direct and indirect impacts from the SouthCoast Wind project that would not otherwise exist, according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s report. The report specifically named vessel noise as potentially disruptive to marine mammals, especially fin and endangered right whales. However, it does not link these disruptions to whale deaths, a contention which has been largely debunked by scientists, including within the federal government.
“There is no relationship between offshore wind and dead whales,” said Bob Kenney, an emeritus marine research scientist at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.
The 2,400-page environmental impact statement on SouthCoast Wind marks a significant step — though not the final sign off — in the multilayered, multi-step regulatory process governing offshore wind. Project developers are still awaiting federal approval on a construction and operations plan — a date for which has not been set — alongside a host of state-level reviews, including several in Rhode Island.
The federal environmental review does not mention the potential for manufacturing problems, believed to be the cause of a broken blade that fell off one of Vineyard Wind’s turbines in July, scattering debris across area beaches. BOEM said previously it was still reviewing the Vineyard Wind blade failure, as well as “incident-response protocols” for other offshore wind projects,
Ocean Winds, the Spanish developer behind the 1,287-megawatt SouthCoast Wind project planned south of Martha’s Vineyard, struck tentative power purchase agreements with Rhode Island and Massachusetts. If approved, Rhode Island Energy would buy 200 megawatts of the project’s “nameplate capacity,” while the remaining 1,087 megawatts would be funneled to the Commonwealth. The Rhode Island Energy contract remains in negotiations, with a final agreement expected to be submitted to state utility regulators at the end of the year.
There is no relationship between offshore wind and dead whales.
– Bob Kenney, an emeritus marine research scientist at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography
Meanwhile, a separate state regulatory body — the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board — is reviewing the developers’ plans to run transmission lines from the wind farm up the Sakonnet River and out Mount Hope Bay before connecting to land in Somerset, Massachusetts. Advisory agencies have until January to submit comments to the Energy Facility Siting Board on the transmission line proposal.
Despite the obstacle course of regulatory hoops still in front of it, Ocean Winds touted BOEM’s environmental review as an “important regulatory milestone.”
“The Final Environmental Impact Statement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is an important regulatory milestone that allows SouthCoast Wind to bring substantial economic development to the region and to increase energy reliability for the New England grid,” Jennifer Flood, head of permitting for Ocean Winds North America, said in a statement Friday. “We thank both BOEM for their extensive environmental evaluation of the SouthCoast Wind lease area, and the many government agencies, partners, and the public among others who provided valuable input during the process.”
The report looks at a range of environmental and economic issues for various configurations of the project — air quality, bats, sea turtles, boat navigation, recreation and tourism — as well as if there is no project at all. In most cases, the potential consequences to species, habitats and fishing that could result from the project would happen anyway due to warming waters and coastal erosion, the report states.
Except for the already vulnerable right whale population.
“Impacts are magnified in severity for [North Atlantic right whale] due to low population numbers and the potential to compromise the viability of the species from the loss of a single individual,” the report states. “Although a measurable impact is anticipated, most other marine mammals would likely recover completely when [impact-producing factor] stressors are removed, or remedial or mitigating actions are taken.”
Underwater drilling activity is bigger issue
Kenney, however, insisted that pile-driving, which is used to drill foundations for the turbines into the seafloor, is much more disruptive to right whales than vessel traffic.
“Old whalers managed to go back over and over to places like St. Tropez to keep killing whales until they were all gone,” Kenney said. “The whales kept coming back.”
The report acknowledges the developer must refrain from underwater drilling activity from Jan. to May 15 to minimize impact to marine mammals. Prior projects called for restrictions on pile driving starting in December.
“I would rather see the window made smaller,” Kenney said.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is conducting a separate review of the project specifically as it relates to disturbance of marine mammals, as part of a partnership between BOEM and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aimed at protecting endangered right whales while advancing offshore wind development.
The many measures taken to protect right whales, and other marine species, seem to have done little to assuage public concerns. Disinformation linking offshore wind to whale deaths continues to dominate on social media, which Kenney said was driven by NIMBYism and “dark money” from the fossil fuel industry.
A 2023 report by Brown University’s Climate and Development Lab also showed fossil fuel companies and right-wing think tanks pouring money into local offshore wind opposition campaigns in Rhode Island.
Pending remaining federal, state and local permits, SouthCoast Wind is expected to begin construction on its project in late 2025, with a 2030 completion date. That is, of course, if President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal wind opponent, doesn’t try to stop its construction.
Kenney was unsure if Trump could halt the already in-progress development, but suspected the president-elect would try.
BOEM did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment on Tuesday.
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