Ocean City Residents Say Wind Farm Shouldn't Tear Up Beach

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Residents spoke out against the Ocean Wind 1 project, particularly against easements across Green Acres-protected land, at a Board of Public Utilities hearing on May 19. Two hearings were held at 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

The hearing was about a petition by Ocean Wind 1 for easements across the Green Acres land in Ocean City and consents needed for environmental permits that Ocean Wind 1 said were "reasonably necessary" for the construction of the project. These permits require the consent of Ocean City. The hearing allowed residents to add their opinions and feelings to the official record for when the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) makes their final decision.

Madeline Urbish, representing Ørsted, the company behind the project, emphasized at the earlier hearing that the underground line route is the preferred option. "This route was selected after extensive research," Urbish said.

The route would go from Bay Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard, west across Peck Bay and continue within Roosevelt Boulevard to North Shore Road to the proposed substation in Upper Township.

David Wand of Rate Counsel said that this route is preferred. However, there is a longer, alternative route that follows an abandoned railroad, which may result in fewer disturbances, Wand said.

"I live here. We don't want this coming across our beach," Suzanne Hornick, of Protect our Coast NJ, said. She said cables would run near playgrounds, across Green Acres land and uproot the streets. Hornick said these cables would emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and cause cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, there is no known link between non-ionizing EMFs (such as those from power lines) and cancer.

Hornick said that Green Acres rules require that approval cannot happen if there are viable alternatives and "there are plenty of alternatives." She encouraged the BPU not to approve.

"Windmills don't do anything but cause problems," Hornick said.

Resident Roseanne Serowatka agreed, saying that the project would damage the local environment and harm tourism. She said that the "seashore community depends on tourism and this would be a nightmare."

"Please consider the burden placed on the community as well as the economic impact," Serowatka said. She referenced the book "Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All" by Michael Shellenberger. The book is about climate change and how "it's not the end of the world," according to the book's description.

Mike DeVlieger, formerly of the City Council, voiced his thoughts, saying that he had been against the project since the beginning. "Overwhelmingly, our community is against this," DeVlieger said.

DeVlieger also said the project has both environmental and medical concerns.

Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, shared a different viewpoint.

"We need to make offshore wind possible and there will be some environmental impact," O'Malley said. He said it's important to avoid environmental impact where possible, but "mitigate if you need to."

"We cannot keep the energy grid we have right now and assume that it is sustainable," O'Malley said, adding that climate change is projected to impact South Jersey heavily. It will impact more than just this Green Acres property, he said.

In regards to worries of health issues, O'Malley said there are long-term health effects from the coal plant on Cape May County, and referenced the "huge impact" from continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Residents have been opposing the project for a while. Read More: Ocean City Residents Launch Petition Against Offshore Wind Farm

Residents are still able to have their comment added to the record. Comments may be submitted until June 2 at 5 p.m. by going to the Board's Public Document Search and going to the "Public Comments" section. Residents may also email comments in PDF or Word format to board.secretary@bpu.nj.gov.

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