Oral arguments were heard Thursday by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other federal agencies over the controversial Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts.
Vineyard Wind US — a joint venture of Central Maine Power (CMP) parent company Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners — has made headlines in recent days after one of its wind turbines was significantly damaged, causing a blade the size of a football field to break apart into the water.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the DOI for allegedly violating environmental law when authorizing the 62-turbine Vineyard Wind project.
“In its haste to implement a massive new program to generate electrical energy by constructing thousands of turbine towers offshore the eastern seaboard on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf and laying hundreds of miles of high-tension electrical cables undersea,” RODA said in a 2022 press release, “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 fishing industry supports strong action on climate change, but not at the expense of the ocean, its inhabitants, and sustainable domestic seafood,” RODA continued.
“The decisions on this project didn’t balance ocean resource conservation and management, and must not set a precedent for the enormous ‘pipeline of projects’ the government plans to facilitate in the near term,” the group concluded. “So we had no alternative to filing suit.”
Click Here to Read RODA’s Full Press Release from 2022
This lawsuit was previously dismissed by a federal trial court when a judge ruled that they did not have standing to bring the case.
Click Here to Read RODA’s Original Complaint
The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) issued a statement Thursday morning in support of RODA’s lawsuit, citing the recently-damaged turbine blade and the resulting fiberglass debris that continues to wash up on the Massachusetts shoreline.
“[RODA] put the government on notice over two years ago that Vineyard Wind’s turbines aren’t safe,” NEFSA said. “The recent blade disaster has scattered debris over a huge swath of historic fishing grounds, creating serious hazards for mariners and marine life.”
“As RODA’s lawsuit explains, there is no evidence Vineyard Wind’s Haliade-X turbines were ever safety tested,” they continued. “Fishermen are gravely concerned that they cannot withstand the volatile marine conditions of the north Atlantic. Now New England fishermen are paying a steep price for this criminal lack of oversight.”
“Unfortunately, a federal trial court dismissed RODA’s lawsuit, concluding that fishermen do not have standing to challenge the Vineyard Wind project,” said NEFSA. “This disaster puts the lie to that conclusion. We hope the First Circuit agrees and allows RODA’s lawsuit to proceed.”
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