Republican-led hearing on offshore wind, whale deaths draws hundreds to Wildwood

WILDWOOD ― Four Congressmen from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland are on a mission to put a hard stop to offshore wind development in the Mid-Atlantic.

They held a hearing Thursday afternoon before about 400 people at the Wildwoods Convention Center, where hundreds more tried to enter but were denied access due to capacity.

Thursday's hearing was the latest event in the highly political debate over whether to develop the Atlantic coast with offshore wind farms.

The four Republicans who lead the hearing — Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, both of New Jersey, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania — heard testimony from invited speakers who said offshore wind development could harm marine life, alter ecosystems, be prohibitively expensive to taxpayers and amount to industrializing the ocean.

Briefly, the attendees who were not permitted to enter the full-to-capacity hearing room chanted outside as personnel from several law enforcement agencies patrolled the convention center grounds. Police officers took photographs of the crowd at times and a bomb-sniffing K9 patrol walked the parking lot.

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Inside, Cindy Zipf, executive director of the Long Branch-based environmental organization Clean Ocean Action, testified before the congressmen and called for a pilot program to examine whether the construction and operation of wind turbine farms would be safe for marine animals.

"Climate change is real," she said at the hearing. "Reducing fossil fuel (use) is critical toward this goal… Now while some offshore wind may hold promise, federal and state agencies have moved forward without public transparency, robust and sound science, and good governance."

An increase in vessel traffic, ocean noise, changes in how the ocean flows and sea floor habitat could all be consequences of offshore wind that could disturb marine animal behavior, she testified. Yet, the projects are moving forward without robust scientific evidence that offshore wind development is safe for ocean animals, she said.

"Where is the commitment to the precautionary principle?" she testified.

The deaths of nine whales in New Jersey since early December has roiled public interest in the question and garnered support for opponents of offshore wind.

Officials both at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — who are studying unusual numbers of whale strandings that date back to 2016 — and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said there is no evidence to link offshore wind construction with whale strandings. Rather, NOAA said the deaths appear to be the result of ship strikes or entanglement with fishing gear.

However, some members of the public are more closely listening to their elected officials on the issue.

Smith, of New Jersey's 4th Congressional District, which includes Shore towns in both Monmouth and Ocean counties, said environmental impacts and ocean noise from offshore wind farms are some of his numerous concerns about the growing industry. Smith questioned statements by other officials who said whale deaths were unrelated to offshore wind.

"Where's the science to back that up," he said during the hearing in Wildwood.

Other environmental groups pushed back against the statements made in the hearing. They said impacts of climate change — for example, ocean warming and changes in food availability — are greater threats to whales.

"Out on the waters of the NY Bight (a region of ocean between New York and New Jersey), I witness climate crisis related things all the time: extraordinary rainfall effects on the marine environment, southern species in our waters and our species moving northward out of our region… inconsistent water temperatures and unpredictable winds," Capt. Paul Eidman, a fishing charter boat captain and offshore wind supporter, said in a statement on Thursday. "Responsibly developed offshore wind power is the fastest way to stall these effects and reduce our dependance on burning fossil fuels for energy and transportation."

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Officials with the offshore wind development company Ørsted, based in Denmark, said their activities are regulated by stringent laws to protect marine animals. Their operations include restrictions on times of year they can operate, vessel speeds, and they must have marine animal observers on board, according to Maddy Urbish, head of government affairs and market strategy for Ørsted's New Jersey division.

Ørsted is developing its Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects off Atlantic City.

"Our recent survey work was completed in January," Urbish said in a statement in late February. "The completed surveys did not involve sounds or actions that would harm whales or other marine mammals and Ørsted-contracted vessels have not experienced any whale strikes during offshore survey activity in the U.S."

Officials with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, which is developing a project off Long Beach Island, said they too are working to be a good stewards of the environment.

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"Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind survey teams have logged more than 1 million staff-hours over the course of 1,500+ workdays with zero adverse whale interactions, and zero incident or injury to any marine mammals," Terence Kelly, Atlantic Shore's manager of external affairs, said in an email in late February.

But Smith said the science around offshore wind's safety remains "shoddy at best."

"Developers want to build thousands of Eiffel Tower-sized turbines that will line our horizons for decades," said Van Drew, of New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District, which covers southern Ocean County, portions of Gloucester County, as well as all of Atlantic, Cumberland, Salem and Cape May counties.

"If offshore wind industrialization moves forward, it will be the most profound transformation of the Atlantic coast in the history of the United States of America," he said.

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Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Wildwood hearing on offshore wind, whale deaths draws hundreds