By BROOKE FELDMAN
More than 500 community members and elected officials gathered on Saturday morning to discuss the state’s development of offshore wind energy and whether there is a link to a series of whale deaths.
The forum, held at Brigantine Community School, comes after a slew of dead whales washed up along the East Coast.
At least 10 whales were found in a matter of weeks, including some on beaches in Atlantic and Cape May counties.
Brigantine adopted a resolution in January calling for a pause with the wind projects. Brigantine Mayor Vince Sera led the forum to address ongoing concerns.
“Once they [the wind farms] are constructed, it’s too late,” Sera said. “Now is the time to gather the data and make sure people feel comfortable about how we move forward as a community.”
Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal is 100 percent clean energy by 2050, and the offshore wind projects are an integral part of his plan.
Most of the attendees and speakers at Saturday’s forum demanded that offshore wind development stop until further investigation is conducted to determine whether there is a correlation to the dead whales.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, whose congressional district includes the shore communities in Atlantic and Cape May counties, urged the audience to speak out against the current wind projects.
“This is one of the biggest issues of our time,” said Van Drew, who declared this is about the freedom to object.
State Sen. Vincent J. Polistina, R-Atlantic, took a similar stance to Van Drew and believes the whale deaths are not just coincidental.
“We acknowledge that a lot of the whale deaths are due to vessel strikes, but we want to know why,” Polistina said. “It never has happened before, so that’s what we are concerned about. That’s why we have called for a pause.”
Other concerns were introduced to the crowd. Save Long Beach Island member Chris Placitella presented his research relating to the visual impact of the towering wind turbines at least nine miles from the New Jersey shoreline.
“I looked through the fine print,” said Placitella who read Atlantic Shore’s wind development plan. “When I was done doing my research, I knew this was going to change the Jersey Shore forever.”
The audience expressed concern when Placitella spoke about the potential physical changes to the current pristine coastline.
Ventnor Commissioner Lance Landgraf, whose municipality also called for a moratorium of offshore wind development, plans to have Placitella speak to Ventnor residents.
“Ventnor residents need to do exactly what the Brigantine residents are doing and get involved.” Landgraf said. “We don’t have as well-organized of a group, but we are going to try and join this group and expand to Downbeach.”
Defend Brigantine Beach, an independent citizens’ action group that is fighting against offshore wind turbines, also presented at the forum. Representatives of the group asserted that the turbines will cause serious harm to the shore.
“We strongly believe that the projects are going to devastate our beach economy and devastate our environment,” said Katie Finnegan, media and communications manager of Defend Brigantine Beach.
The organization, which was created just seven weeks ago, gave out a pamphlet at the community forum that warns of the potential dangers of wind farms to shore communities.
Proponents of the current offshore wind energy plan were low in numbers at the forum. Atlantic Shores and Orsted, two companies responsible for wind farm projects, did not send representatives to present an opposing argument or answer residents’ questions.
Galloway Township resident Josh Smith, who is interested in a plan that was briefly introduced at the meeting to move the wind turbines farther away from the shoreline, spoke of the potential benefits of green energy.
“We should not write off the opportunity to install a source of renewable energy that is going to power the future,” Smith said.
