BY WAYNE PARRY Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY — A joint study by two federal government scientific agencies and the commercial fishing industry documents numerous impacts that offshore wind power projects have on fish and marine mammals, including noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields, and heat transfer that could alter the marine environment.
It comes as the offshore wind industry is poised to grow rapidly on the U.S. East Coast, where it is facing growing opposition from those who blame it for killing whales — something numerous scientific agencies say is not true.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance issued their report Wednesday after a 2½-year-long study of the impacts existing offshore wind projects have on fish and marine mammals.
The goal was to solidify existing knowledge of the impacts and call for further research in many areas.
NOAA and BOEM are among the agencies that say there is no link between offshore wind preparation and whale deaths. Their co-authorship of a report detailing potential negative impacts on fish and marine mammals may intensify an already highly politicized controversy.
Asked Friday about the likelihood of this happening, NOAA spokesperson Lauren Gaches reiterated the agency’s position that offshore wind is not causing the whale deaths, which remain under investigation.
“We will also continue to explore how sound, vessel, and other human activities in the marine environment impact whales and other marine mammals,” she said.
The fishing industry is concerned that fish near construction sites may be killed or chased away for prolonged periods even after the turbines are built, according to the report.
“Physical changes associated with (offshore wind) developments will affect the marine environment — and, subsequently, the species that live there — to varying degrees,” the report read. ”These include construction and operation noise and vibration, electromagnetic fields, and thermal radiation from cables, as well as secondary gear entanglement.
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