Three conservative groups challenge Dominion wind farm project

RICHMOND — Three groups that are challenging Biden administration energy policy as climate change alarmism want to block work on Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project.

The groups — Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, The Heartland Institute and the National Legal and Policy Center — say the Biden administration’s push to develop wind farms threatens the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

They asked the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to issue a preliminary injunction to halt work on Dominion’s $9 billion project that is to feature 176 giant wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, 27 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

“The in-water construction work that Dominion intends to begin on May 1, 2024, including and especially pile driving for wind turbine foundations, will result in the unlawful ‘take’ of North American Right Whales,” the groups’ petition said.

In a news release, the groups say the petition — which is pending before the court — will delay the project.

Dominion said the challenge is without merit and added that it does not expect to begin work until later in May.

Dominion spokesman Jeremy Slayton said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s environmental review of the company’s project looked carefully at potential impacts to marine wildlife and the environment.

“The overwhelming consensus of federal agencies and scientific organizations is that offshore wind does not adversely impact marine life,” Slayton said. “We’ve put in place strong environmental protections for this project and are confident the North Atlantic right whale will be protected,” he added.

Under its permits with federal regulators, Dominion is barred from pile driving and other in-water work that could affect whales between November and April, when the whales migrate from northern waters, generally off the Canadian and New England coasts, to warmer areas around the Bahamas.

Dominion is also installing bubble curtains to reduce sound when driving piles. The vessels driving piles will have Protected Species Observers on board as well as equipment to detect marine mammals so they can be avoided.

Alleging faulty analysis

The three groups argue that the federal permits for Dominion’s project are based on a faulty analysis by federal fisheries officials of the impact that approved and potential offshore wind projects will have on marine mammals.

They said those permits and permits issued for five more offshore wind projects off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey are not taking into account the combined effect of several Atlantic Coast wind farms on whales.

Right whales “numbering no more than 340 individual whales, will have to run the gauntlet of impacts, impediments, and physical threats posed by the many OSW (offshore wind) projects approved and/or planned,” the lawsuit said.

Wind farms will block migration paths, limit food supplies and expose whales to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, the lawsuit said.

Skepticism on ‘climate crisis’
Heartland president James Taylor has said that while climate conditions fluctuate, “any assertion of a climate crisis, however, is a sham.”

In addition to its skepticism about climate change, Heartland has also said risks of smoking “are exaggerated by the public health community to justify their calls for more regulations on businesses and higher taxes on smokers.”

The National Legal and Policy Center “contends that climate alarmism has become exaggerated and increased greenhouse gases will be far less damaging than often claimed,” while the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow website says: “It’s time to CANCEL Earth Day!”

Dominion said courts have already rejected the three groups’ arguments, most recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, in a Massachusetts case.

“Dominion Energy strongly believes that the project’s biological opinion is compliant with all legal requirements and expects to prevail against the request for a construction delay,” the company said.

It said the project to erect 176 wind turbines capable of powering up to 660,000 homes remains on schedule and on budget.

Judge Loren L. AliKhan directed the company to present formal arguments against granting the request injunction by Monday.