Commenters weigh in on Ocean Wind 1

Hearing on use of resort’s land for transmission lines turns into forum on project

A public hearing Monday evening on Ocean Wind 1’s proposed use of less than an acre of Ocean City land for its power transmission cables turned into a referendum on the planned wind turbine farm off the coast.

Representatives of Ocean Wind 1, a joint venture between Ørsted and PSEG, held a virtual public scoping hearing via livestream for members of the public to ask questions regarding the project. Comments were heard on the proposed diversion of an approximately 0.838-acre portion of Ocean City-owned parkland. 

Representatives from Ørsted gave a brief PowerPoint presentation on Zoom to explain the proposed underground cable and its potential impacts on Ocean City. Ørsted representative Katherine Perry said the purpose of the Green Acres diversions is to allow the use or control of parkland for other than recreation and conservation purposes. Ocean Wind 1 wants to bring its cables from the wind turbine farm 15 miles off the coast through rights-of-way in Ocean City to the former B.L. England site in Beesleys Point in Upper Township.

Alternatives to the easements were included in the proposal and the feasibility, reasonability, availability, and potential impacts. 

The public portion of the meeting pertained to the proposed diversion, but many public members spoke about the wind farm project as a whole.

“I’m a representative of Protect Our Coast NJ and we do not want any part of this project,” Suzanne Hornick said. “It’s disgusting to me that the New Jersey Assembly and Senate were willing to write new laws to take away our rights without any meaningful public comment in just a few days.”

The Protect Our Coast NJ group’s website said it is a united group with one common goal, to stop the wind turbines off the New Jersey shoreline. 

“Governor Murphy quickly gave our rights away to a foreign country and foreign company because Ørsted told him to,” Hornick said. “That’s un-American and a complete abuse of power. The [Board of Public Utilities] and President Joseph whatever his last name is (Fiordaliso) are biased in favor of Ørsted and are not in any way looking out for the best interest of people of Ocean City or New Jersey.” 

Hornick added research should be done on the power cables that emit electric and magnetic fields (EMFs).

“We in Ocean City are not your guinea pigs and our children are not going to be collateral damage,” she said. “We demand extensive scientific, local environmental impact studies be done.”

Other members of Protect Our Coast NJ group spoke during the scoping hearing. 

“I’m fully opposed to this project and what’s being put forth here this evening has no compelling need and it’s not solving climate change,” Long Beach Island resident Gregory Cudnik said. “This puts the ocean in jeopardy and the wind farm is an utter failure that is being forced by executive order.”

Cudnik referenced www.protectourcoastnj.com for residents to find out more information.

“It seems like most of the proponents  are worried about climate change and I think they have been duped into this like it’s a religion,” Nathan Braitville said. “It seems like a lot of this is about money and it has a lot of people scared who don’t do research or critical thinking on both sides. I want people to go to the boardwalk and look out into the ocean that God created and does not want us to put tons of stinking windmills out there for no reason. It’s a big waste.”

Perry reminded the public several times to keep the comments of the meeting to the scoping proposal for the Green Acre diversion. 

“I apologize for some of the harsh and conspiratorial comments you’re receiving,” Sean Raymond said. “As someone who has spent a great deal of my life in this town, there’s a ton of infrastructure already in our sightlines that we take little note of. I support the project and encourage the skeptics and outright opponents, what if anything this will add to their view compared to their day-to-day lives already.”

Marcus Sibley, the environmental climate justice chairman for the New Jersey NAACP, spoke and pointed out three factors Ørsted should note, including optics, economics and inconvenience.

“People have been coming to the beach for their entire lives and are afraid that the environment is going to be impacted,” he said. “The developer should clear up the misconception and provide transparency about the jobs. I encourage the developer to have this information available.”

Providing education to the public is one way Ørsted can focus on the issue, Sibley explained.

“Climate change is real, regardless of how you feel about it and we have many examples showing how it’s impacting our shorelines, and sea level rise,” he said. “It’s important we provide more education so people have the opportunity to [learn] things even if it’s uncomfortable.” 

A few commenters said they felt there was not enough notice for this scoping meeting. Cathy Ingham said she only knew about it because she heard about it on NBC news and contacted City Hall to get the link.

“You’d have more opposition if more homeowners knew about this [project],” Ingham said. “We have three branches of government, we are not totalitarian, and this should not have been implemented by executive order.”

The campaigns director at the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, Patty Cronheim, said climate change is the biggest threat to the ocean.

“This project will be developed into something that’s an asset to this area,” she said. “We are heartened to hear you’re going to be doing the construction off-season and we recognize that offshore wind is an important tool in fighting against climate change.”

Members of the public may submit written comments for two weeks following the scoping meeting. All written comments must be submitted by March 21 to Tom Suthard at Ørsted Ocean Wind, 600 Atlantic Ave., Suite 2, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401 or info@oceanwind.com.

When the public comment period is closed, Ørsted will provide a document responding to the questions and concerns expressed during this meeting. To read the response and more information about the project, visit www.oceanwind.com. 

A copy of any written comments must also be submitted to the Green Acres Program at either BLSSpubliccomments@dep.nj.gov with “Ocean Wind” in the subject line or to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Green Acres Program, Bureau of Legal Services and Stewardship, 401 E. State St., 7th Floor, Mail Code 401-07B, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, New Jersey 08265-0420, Attn: Ocean Wind Application.

By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Sentinel