Rhode Island homeowners are leading calls for a federal judge to freeze construction of an offshore wind farm in New England, after the Biden administration reopened analysis of how the project could harm endangered whales and sea turtles.
Green Oceans and other advocacy groups urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop ongoing seabed construction of Revolution Wind to prevent further harm to several at-risk species, including the North Atlantic right whale and loggerhead sea turtle.
“Construction must be halted until [NOAA Fisheries] is able to review and analyze the impacts to the endangered whales and other marine mammals and NMFS should require more stringent mitigation measures to protect these animals that are dying at rapid rates,” the groups said in an April 18 filing.
Project developers Ørsted Wind Power North America and Eversource are approved to build up to 65 wind turbines off the coast of Rhode Island within Coxes Ledge, a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean situated between Martha’s Vineyard and Montauk. NOAA Fisheries in March designated the area as a “habitat area of particular concern” for spawning cod.
