SouthCoast Wind denies allegations from state engineer about lying to regulators
PROVIDENCE — SouthCoast Wind is denying allegations made by a state engineer that the company lied to regulators about permitting related to the $5 billion offshore wind farm it has proposed building off southern New England.
In a letter filed with utilities regulators late Friday, the joint venture between Shell and Ocean Winds said the accusations contained in an email from David Ciochetto, an ocean engineer who is part of the team that reviews offshore wind projects for the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, are false.
“Contrary to the email’s inaccurate assertions, SouthCoast Wind has and will continue to conduct its permitting and siting efforts in an open and transparent manner, diligently and in good faith,” the company said in the filing with the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board. “SouthCoast Wind has and will continue to work closely with federal and state regulators to satisfy their questions and concerns about this complex multi-jurisdictional project.”
SouthCoast Wind: CRMC is reviewing their Category B Assent application
In a June 29 email to the coordinator of the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board and sent in the wake of a public hearing before the board on the SouthCoast Wind project, Ciochetto said the company made false statements in testimony about the state of a permit application filed with the coastal council and about discussions with a board that advises the council on fishing impacts from offshore wind development. Ciochetto said that, contrary to what SouthCoast Wind told the siting board, an application with the coastal council for the wind farm’s transmission cable was not moving forward and that no talks with the Fishermen’s Advisory Board had occurred.
More on SouthCoast Wind: State engineer accuses SouthCoast Wind of lying to RI agencies. What the email says.
In its letter, SouthCoast Wind pushed back against Ciochetto’s assertion about its application for what’s known as a Category B assent for the transmission cable that would run through state waters and lands to a substation at the site of the former Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset. The application was filed in February and, although it has not been officially accepted for review, SouthCoast Wind has had five meetings with coastal council staff to discuss it, the company said.
“SouthCoast Wind’s filings with the Board for the Show Cause hearing fairly and accurately reported that the CRMC was ‘currently reviewing’ the Category B Assent application,” the letter said.
CRMC contradicts engineer's email that SouthCoast Wind has been 'evasive'
In a separate document filed Monday with the siting board, the coastal council said the sticking point for the application is that the company has failed to demonstrate that it has site control for the portion of the cable that would cut through Common Fence Point in Portsmouth.
“Please know that with any application to the CRMC, site control over which an activity is proposed is required to be shown so that the CRMC and the public at-large have assurances that the proposed activity has the permission of said property owner to perform the activity, if and once permitted,” the council said.
The council confirmed that discussions with the developer are continuing and that documentation on site control is anticipated. The letter also said Ciochetto’s email was not authorized by the council and contradicted his assertion that SouthCoast Wind had been evasive in its dealings with the coastal council.
“Due to CRMC’s concurrent review of three to four offshore wind projects at one time, information requests between CRMC and SCW have not always been consistent,” the council said. “However, when CRMC has made information requests regarding various aspects of the project, SCW has been responsive, timely, and delivered the appropriate deliverables.
More: Rhode Island is playing a key role in a pivotal year for offshore wind in America
Fishermen's Advisory Board still contends they never met with SouthCoast Wind
In its filing with the siting board, SouthCoast Wind also said it had met with members of the Fishermen’s Advisory Board in May 2022. The company gave a general overview of its project at that joint meeting with another panel that advises the coastal council, the Habitat Advisory Board. Moreover, during a Zoom meeting this past March that members of the FAB were invited to, the company presented its fisheries monitoring plan, according to the letter.
The company said it had also been negotiating with Marisa Desautel, the FAB’s lawyer, about setting up an escrow account to pay for her legal fees — “a necessary next step in the FAB process,” the letter said.
But Desautel, who said last week that she had not attended any meetings between the board and SouthCoast Wind, filed a letter with the siting board saying that the company’s statement about the May 2022 meeting “appears to be misplaced.”
“No substantive mitigation meetings have been held between the FAB and this developer,” she said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Offshore wind developer says they didn't lie to Rhode Island regulators
