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Vineyard Wind lawsuit filed by RI plaintiffs set for federal court hearing in Boston

Providence Business First|Mary Serreze |May 22, 2023
MassachusettsUSALegalOffshore Wind
A federal lawsuit that pits fishing interests against Vineyard Wind and offshore wind regulators continues in Boston’s federal courthouse, and a make-or-break hearing on a recent motion for a preliminary injunction to pause the project is set for Tuesday. The outcome of the motion hearing could determine the future of Vineyard Wind I, a large offshore energy project that’s already under construction off the coast of Southern New England, according to a court document signed by the company’s CEO. 

A federal lawsuit that pits fishing interests against Vineyard Wind and offshore wind regulators continues in Boston’s federal courthouse, and a make-or-break hearing on a recent motion for a preliminary injunction to pause the project is set for Tuesday. 
 
The outcome of the motion hearing could determine the future of Vineyard Wind I, a large offshore energy project that’s already under construction off the coast of Southern New England, according to a court document signed by the company’s CEO. 
 
Vineyard Wind I would place 62 turbines 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard while powering 400,000 Massachusetts homes. Cable-laying started more than six months ago, and the company is conducting seafloor work in anticipation of …
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A federal lawsuit that pits fishing interests against Vineyard Wind and offshore wind regulators continues in Boston’s federal courthouse, and a make-or-break hearing on a recent motion for a preliminary injunction to pause the project is set for Tuesday. 
 
The outcome of the motion hearing could determine the future of Vineyard Wind I, a large offshore energy project that’s already under construction off the coast of Southern New England, according to a court document signed by the company’s CEO. 
 
Vineyard Wind I would place 62 turbines 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard while powering 400,000 Massachusetts homes. Cable-laying started more than six months ago, and the company is conducting seafloor work in anticipation of installing 62 foundations over the summer. 
 
A group of plaintiffs led by Seafreeze Shoreside Inc., a Rhode Island squid dealer and processor, have been trying to stop the project while arguing that the cumulative effects of offshore wind on Northeast fisheries have not been fully vetted.
 
Seafreeze in late 2021 sued the U.S. Dept. of the Interior claiming that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management improperly issued permits to let construction of Vineyard Wind I move forward. Seafreeze claims that economic harms to the squid fishery from offshore wind would far exceed a fisheries compensation fund approved by the federal government. The plaintiffs seek a permanent injunction to halt the project.
 
Work on Vineyard Wind — a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners — has continued despite the presence of the civil litigation.
 
Lawyers for Vineyard Wind and the Interior Department, in response to Seafreeze's May 10 petition for a preliminary injunction, argue that the plaintiffs have not proven irreparable harm, are unlikely to succeed on the merits, and say the motion should be rejected.
 
What's more, any court-ordered pause at this point would likely tank the project, wrote Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Skoust Moeller in a court affidavit. He said the company's committed costs to charter a special ship (the "Orion") to install the foundations would add to over $1 million in project losses per day. That ship is on a tight schedule, in demand by other developers, and can't rework its calendar. Vineyard Wind has already spent $1.85 billion and secured debt financing for $2.4 billion. Any injunction would “very likely” cause banks to withhold further funding. Such a scenario would place Vineyard Wind “at significant risk of being unable to complete the project,” Moeller wrote. 
 
Oral arguments on the preliminary injunction will be heard May 23 before District Court Judge Indira Talwani.
 
Vineyard Wind 1 would be the nation’s first commercial scale offshore wind farm. The developers hope to have the project up and running by the end of the year.
 
The plaintiffs are represented by lawyers with the Texas Public Policy Foundation and its Center for the American Future, a libertarian think tank.
 
The plaintiffs' motion targeting Vineyard Wind came one day after the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council approved Revolution Wind, a separate project by Ørsted and Eversource. Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison with SeaFreeze, testified at that CRMC hearing in opposition to the Revolution Wind project as well.

Source:https://www.bizjournals.com/r…

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