Second BOEM in-person hearing on offshore wind generates … – Ocean City Today

Two days after hundreds of local residents, public officials and business representatives came to Ocean City Elementary to weigh in on a U.S. Wind project proposed off the coasts of Maryland and Delaware, another similar meeting was held over the state line.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, held a community open house last Thursday at Indian River High School in Dagsboro, with ocean scientists providing visual impact imagery and mapping of the Maryland Offshore Wind project.

The Ocean City meeting was similar and one of four total the federal organization hosted following the release of a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project. The other two were virtual meetings held Oct. 19 and 30, and public comment is open until Nov. 20.

Many of the attendees of the Ocean City meeting expressed frustration over the fact that the meeting did not include open public comment. At the Delaware meeting, the feedback focused more on the project details.

The forum at Indian River consisted of poster displays throughout the gym and BOEM officials heard from concerned citizens and pro-wind environmental leaders directly, using an online portal for comment, providing an address for letters and an email address for completing the listening tour.

Social media was blowing up with thousands of community comments that the new photos released of the offshore windfarm seem to bring the viewshed of the 800-foot turbines and 900-foot structures closer to the beach and the local coastal towns than originally anticipated.

Anne Sakalay, who resides in the Towers Shore community in North Bethany Beach, expressed her fears about the view from her home and the onshore cabling, which is expected to land at 3Rs beach less than a mile away.

It has always been so pretty here, she said. These Maryland windfarms and proposed Delaware onshore cables are closer than we expected. There is a complete lack of transparency about this project. What is going on, how big will the turbines be? They have changed the ocean horizon forever. We cannot see the sunrise. People come to the ocean and beach to heal, to be at one with nature; not to stare at industrial wind turbines.

She added that the US Wind MarWin project turbines should not be constructed so close to the shore.

They keep growing the number of turbines and the height, she said. This does not just impact us, but generations to come.

Sakalay pointed out that the wind farms have been pushed further offshore to more well-heeled and wealthy communities, where money talks.

We are totally against bringing the lines ashore at 3Rs beach, our whole Towers Shore community has stated so in writing. It goes through the Inland Bays which is going to impact the ecosystem of the bays no matter what the companies say.

She added that there are other land-based alternatives for transmission lines.

The Caesar Rodney Institute issued a white paper at the open house claiming the federal government should not approve the wind project based on assumptions in the Environmental Impact Statement.

I looked at the construction and operations plan when it came out and those [early] assumptions about the view are not accurate, said Caesar Rodney Institute Executive Director David Stephenson. They make it look further away than it is. The [Construction Operations Plan] was not realistic.

He added, through his role at the center for energy and environmental policy, that BOEMs draft statement is now showing that the US Wind Skipjack project will be as close as 10 miles to the coasts of Delaware and Maryland.

There will be an unavoidable view and dominate presence of a developed and industrial view of turbines from the coastline both day and night, Stevenson said. And we are looking at 1,050 turbines which have been adjusted for height.

Lissa Eng, the renewable energy national communications lead for BOEM, said the group is a small federal agency of about 600 people. She said the four meetings held on the project to give people chances to submit comments formally, on the record, in response to the Environmental Impact Statement.

So, its part of the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA] process, Eng explained.

The act requires all federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions.

We are doing the review process today; so, the open-comment period is through Nov. 20, and we wanted to be present, in-person, as well as virtual, so people who cannot travel here can still voice their opinion on certain aspects of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, Eng said during last weeks meeting at Indian River.

She said the open house format allows people to speak one-on-one with the agencys scientists. They can see our subject matter experts and get into the weeds or take a deep dive, she said It is set-up so that people can get their questions answered.

Eng added that the meeting is public and the goal is to collect public comments.

We have a court reporter here, we have computers set-up for responses, we have tables set-up for written comments and people can send notes directly to us, she said.

BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein said in a statement that officials welcome the feedback.

We value the knowledge we receive from local communities, ocean users, and others, she said. Working together, we can reduce conflicts and establish a strong foundation for offshore wind energy projects moving forward.

US Wind, Inc. is seeking approval for the construction and operation of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, which includes three planned phases. Two of the phases, MarWin and Momentum Wind, have offshore renewable energy certificates from the State of Maryland.

US Winds proposal for all three phases includes installation of up to 121 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four offshore export cable corridors with landfall within Delaware Seashore State Park.

The lease area is about 8.7 nautical miles offshore in federal waters off the coast of Maryland and roughly 9 nautical miles from Sussex County, Delaware.

This is the most significant step forward in the history of Maryland offshore wind, said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO. BOEMs draft environmental impact statement sets us on a path toward starting construction on our offshore wind projects in 2025.

Jodi Rose, the executive director of Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake and an environmental advocacy champion believes in wind.

In order to address the existential crisis we all face with climate change, we need to expand renewable energy sources and quickly, she said. Offshore wind will generate energy for hundreds of thousands of homes, reduce our dependence on damaging fossil fuels, and help put us on a positive trajectory for a more sustainable future. We owe this to the next generation to innovate the way we get our energy.

BOEMs website for comment the Maryland Offshore Wind project can be found online.

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Second BOEM in-person hearing on offshore wind generates ... - Ocean City Today