Offshore Wind Fight Strengthens In Cape May County

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ — The County Board of Commissioners has approved the hiring of two additional law firms to join the legal battle with Orsted, the Danish developer behind the Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind farm project.

Washington, D.C. based Marzulla Law Firm and attorney Anthony Bocchi of the law firm of Cullen – Dykman join former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael J. Donohue and the law office of Cultural Heritage Partners in the county's attempts to halt offshore wind development, according to a county news release.

Marzulla specializes in challenging federal regulatory decisions, while Bocchi will review and challenge the permits issued to Orsted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The law offices of Blaney, Donohue & Weinberg based in Avalon, New Jersey, are already litigating on behalf of the County in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court over approvals issued to Orsted by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

The county is immediately demanding a hearing on already-issued NJDEP permits, and will likely challenge approvals of future federal permits.

“We had hoped that both state and federal regulatory agencies would actually do their jobs and subject Orsted’s Ocean Wind project to the same type of scrutiny that they subject our homeowners and small businesses to when it comes to environmental permitting,” Donohue said. “Anyone who has ever attempted to undertake a waterfront construction project in Cape May County knows how these regulatory agencies make us jump through hoops and over rising hurdles, sometimes for years. But on the Orsted project, it looks like these environmental regulatory agencies have fast tracked their approvals and skipped important steps that are in place to protect the environment, including marine mammals. With the addition of these expert law firms, the County’s legal team is prepared to fight on every available front to challenge the state and federal approvals being issued to Orsted.”

Cape May County Commission Director Len Desiderio said that state and federal governments have not properly addressed the deaths of whales and dolphins. Many believe there to be a link between these deaths and offshore wind, which has sparked concerns statewide.

The DEP has previously said that there is no solid evidence linking whale deaths to offshore wind activities. Read more: NJ Whale Deaths Explained By DEP

Ocean City is already in a legal battle of its own with Orsted - the developer sued over the city not issued a permit they say is necessary to construction. Read more: Offshore Wind Developer Sues Ocean City Over Transmission Line

Also on Friday, anti-wind groups Save LBI, Protect Our Coast NJ and Defend Brigantine Beach filed suit challenging the NJDEP approval of the Ocean Wind 1 project, according to a news release from the groups.

Additionally, an independent federal investigation will be launched into the impacts of offshore wind, Rep. Chris Smith announced. Read more: Federal Agency Agrees To Probe Of Offshore Wind Impacts, Smith Says

“The plan to create a superhighway of windmills off of our beaches should be halted until studies can be completed to answer the questions about the whales and other serious negative environmental and economic impacts that are likely to occur. And if those studies show that our losses will be severe, then these windmills should not be built,” Desiderio said. “Right now, Orsted has made Cape May County part of a mass experiment and they have no idea how bad the results will be and, frankly, they don’t seem to care. Our serious legal team will be looking for avenues to stop these projects from damaging our environment and our economy.”