Environmental Protection Agency gave permission on October 1 Atlantic Coast South projectone of the last bureaucratic hoops project developers must jump through before breaking ground.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to “regulate air emissions from both stationary and mobile sources” and directs the agency to analyze air pollutants that will be emitted. EPA sets the standard for pollutant emissions.

Washington Comptroller First reported After the approval of the Biden administration, the proposal for the offshore wind project came in July. The project promises to provide clean energy to one million homes in New Jersey, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

But Save Long Beach Island, a coalition of residents opposing the Atlantic Shores wind project, has expressed concern that the project will actually increase energy costs, harm endangered whale populations and cause noise and air pollution, among other concerns.

Save Long Beach Island has been preparing to sue the Biden administration since the summer because it believes the wind farm would violate the rules. Clean Air Act.

On August 6, 2024, Save Long Beach Island filed its 60-day notice of intent to file a lawsuit with the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board.

Bob Stern, president of Save Long Beach Island and a former Energy Department engineer, expressed concerns that construction of 200 wind turbines just nine miles off the coastline would pollute the Brigantine National Wildlife Area and the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. expresses.

This protected federal wetland is home to the vulnerable Black Rail and Saltmarsh Sparrow, among other bird species. In 1977, Congress designated the Brigantine Wilderness Area to have special air quality and visibility protections under the Clean Air Act.

“The Clean Air Act is designed to regulate air emissions from all sources to protect public health and the environment,” Stern said. “The agency must be held accountable and publicly explain how this approval protects the Brigantine National Wildlife Area.”

Stern points out three concerns about the EPA granting a Clean Air Act permit to an offshore wind project. Stern says the State Implementation Plan for Regional Haze, which aims to reduce pollution that causes visibility deterioration, does not take into account pollution from the construction and operation of offshore wind projects. Stern also said the air quality modeling did not accurately reflect the pile driving that would occur during construction. Essentially, the model does not have the correct foundation dimensions for wind turbines driven into the seabed and does not take into account the burial time of the foundations.

Stern also expressed concern about the minimal study conducted by Atlantic Shores South on failure rates and replacement rates of wind turbine components.

“In July, the Vineyard Wind project off the coast Nantucket “This provided a striking example of how wind turbines can fail and how long it can take to repair the damage caused when a 350-foot turbine blade spontaneously collapsed during testing off the coast of Nantucket,” Stern wrote.

It was decided that the blade that broke the wind turbine at the Nantucket wind farm was a manufacturing defect. The remains of the 351-meter-long knife washed up on many beaches.

Save Long Beach Island plans to combine its complaints about the EPA’s decision on the Clean Air Act permit with other concerns the group has raised that the project violates the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

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Save Long Beach Island filed A lawsuit was filed against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the developers in September over a lack of noise studies on how construction would impact marine life and residents.

Save Long Beach Island filed its first lawsuit against the Department of Commerce in April, seeking to block the Atlantic Shores South project, charging that the construction would violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The case was dismissed in federal court this February.