CREST HAVEN – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Atlantic Shores South wind farm.
As part of the open public comment period, Cape May County’s consultants at the Warwick Group have filed objections to the DEIS on behalf of the county.
In the Warwick Group comments, the county asserts that the Atlantic Shores South wind farm project “will have widespread significant impacts on Cape May County’s tourism, its commercial fishing industry, its prized ocean views, and environmental impacts that will harm our local ecosystems.”
The county goes on to state that its attempts to work with wind industry developers have failed to produce a positive impact regarding county concerns that have been “ignored and brushed aside without meaningful engagement” by the developers.
The county submission minces no words as it “stands in complete opposition to the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind project as proposed.”
County objections extend to an alleged failure by BOEM to “examine cumulative environmental impacts” of “48 or more proposed wind farms along the Eastern Seaboard,” which “collectively introduce various cumulative impacts.”
The Construction and Operations Plan for Atlantic Shores South describes the wind farm as having 200 turbine generators and up to 10 offshore substations located 8.7 miles from the New Jersey shoreline at its closest point.
The wind farm is to be located immediately offshore of Long Beach Island.
