US environmental and fishing groups have filed a suit in federal court claiming the Departments of Interior and Commerce and sub-agencies violated the law when they approved the Record of Decision (RoD) for Avangrid’s almost 1800MW New England 1&2 offshore wind projects.
Nantucket-based environmental grassroots group ACK For Whales, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head / Aquinnah, Green Oceans, a coalition of charter fishing groups and seven individuals have the filed suit.
The suit, filed in Washington, DC federal court on May 22, seeks declarative relief finding that the government violated these laws, and an injunction to stop these projects from moving forward.
The plaintiffs argue that in approving the RoD for the two projects, the Departments of Interior and Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) violated the Marine Mammal Protection, Endangered Species, Outer Continental Shelf Lands, National Historic Preservation and Administrative Procedures Acts.
The developer, Avangrid, has been contacted for comment.
The environmental groups and tribe are joined as plaintiffs by the Rhode Island Party and Charter Boat Association, Cape Cod Charter Boat Association, Connecticut Charter Boat Association, and Montauk Boatmen and Captain’s Association, as well as individuals.
ACK for Whales President Vallorie Oliver said: “In offshore wind project after offshore wind project, from Revolution Wind, Vineyard Wind and New England Wind to the others, the government was so desperate to rush these projects that it cut corners and violated the law.”
New England Wind 1 is a 791MW project slated to begin construction later this year and deliver power to Massachusetts by 2029.
New England Wind 2, a 1GW project, does not yet have a state lined up to receive its power.
The projects are two of the 11 wind farms that received all of their federal permits before President Donald Trump took office.
“We joined this lawsuit because individual Tribal Members and our Tribe are being harmed by these giant wind farms making an industrial park out of our waters,” said tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais.
“Unlike the other plaintiffs, the harms go back as far as time immemorial and as deep as to who we are as Aquinnah Wampanoag People; our culture, traditions and spirituality, connecting us to the lands, waters, sky and all living things.
“Since the government has ignored us individually, we hope that our collective voices will be heard.”
“The analytic and legal deficiencies of New England Wind are a microcosm of what we have seen in other offshore wind projects – the agencies simply fail to account for critical data which has ramifications for marine mammals on numerous fronts,” said Thomas Stavola, ACK for Whales’ counsel.
In March, ACK for WHALES asked the United States Environmental Protection Agency to revoke the New England 1 and 2 permits because the approval process ignored air pollution caused by the projects.