Fishing group threatens to sue Biden administration over offshore wind project

A commercial fishing trade group has threatened to sue the Biden administration over its approval of the first offshore wind project in the U.S.

The Washington, D.C.-based Responsible Offshore Development Alliance on Oct. 19 released a notice to sue, saying in a letter to top Biden administration officials that their agencies violated laws governing development in federal waters, including the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and other statutes.

For years, offshore wind projects have been mired in red tape as fishing groups protested that the massive wind farms posed an existential threat to the industry. The Trump administration conducted two reviews of the 800-MW Vineyard Offshore Wind Project, located off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Trump officials made no decision after the reviews.

President Joe Biden, announcing a goal for the nation to develop 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030, turbocharged the regulatory process for the burgeoning industry. His administration approved the Vineyard Wind project in May and has opened numerous other reviews.

The fishing group, known as RODA, has not formally sued the administration. It said in the letter that it will sue if the administration does not remedy within 60 days alleged statutory and regulatory violations in connection with the approval of the Vineyard Wind project by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM.

"In its haste to implement a massive new program to generate electrical energy by constructing thousands of turbine towers up and down the eastern seaboard and laying hundreds of miles of high-tension electrical cables undersea, the United States has shortcut the statutory and regulatory requirements that were enacted to protect our nation's environmental and natural resources, its industries and its people," the letter said.

A spokesperson for BOEM, an agency within the U.S. Interior Department, declined to comment. A Vineyard Wind spokesperson also declined to comment. Vineyard Wind is a partnership between Avangrid Inc. subsidiary Avangrid Renewables LLC and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S. Iberdrola SA is Avangrid's parent company.

RODA alleges the government illegally obstructed navigation for fishing vessels. The group said the project's spacing of 1-by-1 nautical miles between turbines is "too narrowly spaced to conduct fishing operations."

"Search and rescue paths are not ensured," the letter said.

The letter said Vineyard Wind's lease violated federal law that requires a "fair return" for rights to lease federal waters. The Interior Department charged Vineyard Wind $195,888, or $3/acre, for the 65,296-acre lease, in addition to $17,155 for a project easement. The letter said the U.S. will have received less than $3.5 million, or 0.15% of project costs, throughout the 30-year life of the $2.3 billion project.

"In sharp contrast, in oil and gas leases, also subject to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the United States requires royalties be paid to it from the production of wells," the letter said. "Here, there is no such arrangement."

Agencies that approved the project also "overlooked the impact" Vineyard Wind will have on the environment and species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale, the letter alleges.

The project is also subject to two separate lawsuits. Nantucket Residents Against Turbines, a nonprofit citizens group, on Aug. 25 sued the administration for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act. New York private equity and renewable energy firm ALLCO Renewable Energy Ltd. on July 17 sued Biden officials for violations of clean water and mammal protection laws.

Both lawsuits are pending in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. No hearings have been scheduled.