Ocean City, Other Stakeholders Sue to Block Offshore Wind Farm

OCEAN CITY, Md. — The mayor and city council of this popular tourist destination are the lead plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit intended to roll back the approval of an 80,000-acre wind energy project to be located about 10.7 miles off the Maryland coast.

The plaintiffs in the litigation include several neighboring towns and counties, as well as sportfishing groups, hotels, amusement parks and other providers of tourism amenities.

Their 92-page lawsuit claims the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management violated a number of federal statutes and related regulations in approving the construction and operations plan for the project, which is being developed by U.S. Wind.

The alleged wrongdoing includes violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in the U.S.  District Court for the District of Maryland, asks Judge Stephanie Gallagher to vacate the agency’s approval of the project and to direct the bureau and the National Marine Fisheries Service to go back and review the proposal again in light of the allegations.

According to agency officials, the Maryland Offshore Wind Project is the nation’s 10th commercial-scale offshore wind project to win federal approval.

Once completely developed, it is anticipated the project will produce over 2 GW of clean energy for the Delmarva Peninsula — enough to power over 718,000 homes.

Additionally, the bureau said, the development and construction phases of the project could support almost 2,680 jobs annually over seven years. 

The lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles offshore Maryland and approximately nine nautical miles from Sussex County, Delaware, at its closest points to shore, the agency added.

Project officials said the plan is to develop the lease area in three phases, which include the proposed installation of up to 114 wind turbine generators, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four offshore export cable corridors. 

Two of the phases, known as MarWin and Momentum Wind, already have offshore renewable energy certificates from the state of Maryland. 

Ocean City has opposed the project from its first application, describing it as a threat to ocean front, beaches and coastal bays, as well as the community’s economy and culture, which “are heavily dependent on tourism, recreation, and the health and preservation of the ocean and its coast.” 

“An ocean resort town since the early 1900s, Ocean City welcomes and hosts around 8 million visitors each summer in its more than 10,000 hotel rooms and 21,000 condominiums and homes,” the lawsuit continues, noting that the city’s famous wooden boardwalk, “offers three miles of food, games and shopping.” 

“Ocean City will suffer direct, substantial, and cognizable injuries-in-fact as a direct result of the construction and operations of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project — injuries that would be avoided absent the government’s approval of the project,” the lawsuit says.

While each of the plaintiffs has a specific issue or set of issues with the planned wind farm, the city spelled out the overriding problem like this:

“Every year, millions of visitors come to Ocean City and spend billions of dollars to sunbathe on the town’s beaches, enjoy the open, unindustrialized views of the ocean, observe whales and dolphins, fish, birdwatch, and enjoy the historic boardwalk, shops, and amusement parks,” it says.

“With an economy based almost entirely on tourism, commercial fishing, and recreational fishing, Ocean City cannot sustain a drastic change in its workforce and culture — changes that will occur because of the recently approved Maryland Offshore Wind Project,” the lawsuit says.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue