Facts tell the story with offshore wind problems

Editor,

I registered for and attended the Oct. 16 Maryland Board of Public Works zoom hearing on US Wind’s application to add millions of acres of our Atlantic Ocean to its Offshore Wind plans.

I sat through three hours of “testimony” before my comment time. I was so angry when my time came to comment that I just lost it. I’m not proud of that, but it is what it is.

I listened to commenter after commenter spew US Wind talking points with stars in their eyes -one even dreamily talked about viewing the beautiful turbines while sipping her morning coffee.

So I thought I’d write about some facts that have come to light in just the last 7 to 10 days.

 The official scallop yearly landings from 2021 to 2024 show that since sonar soundings and construction of the wind farms began the harvest went from 21 million to 11 million. (New Bedford Base Seafood Auction Price Report 01/01/22-09/30/24).

 The latest data from the United Kingdom reveals a record-breaking 5,000 dead whales, dolphins and porpoises in just five years.  The “evidence suggests that artificial noise in the marine environment, including infrasound and low frequency noise emanating from wind farms, poses a real danger to marine mammals and the wider ecosystem.” (See JasonEndfield.Medium.Com)

Remember the broken blade in the Vineyard Wind project that littered the beaches and ocean waters of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard with shards of fiberglass and all kinds of chemical compounds that are completely foreign to the marine ecosystem?  Remember when the remains of the 300-foot-long blade fell into the ocean? The break occurred on July 13th.  The developer is just now, in mid-October, removing that blade from the ocean floor. This incredible delay tells me that these wind developers do not know what to do when a blade breaks, as they are breaking all over the world, both on land and in the sea.  Friends recently took a cross-country road trip from their home in Georgia to California.  In West Texas they passed several huge wind farms and were shocked at the number of broken turbines – huge blades scattered everywhere and most not operating at all.  Their first thought was the effect of a hurricane on an offshore wind farm and what it would do to sea life and the environment. Scary.

Did you know that almost every wind developer, including US Wind, has been relieved of the contractual obligation for the expense of decommissioning the farms when accidents occur or when the turbines “age out”, which is occurring much faster than advertised. (See americanexperiment.org/crippled-willmar-wind-turbines-to-be-scrapped years-early). This article is about a land-based wind farm – imagine how much worse it will be with the salt air and salt water corrosion.  So, if the developers won’t be decommissioning, who will?  You guessed it – the taxpayers and ratepayers.  The developers will take the money and run and leave us holding the bag.

 The Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the Atlantic Shores project off the coast of New Jersey states the “reduction in regional GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions would be noticeable in the regional context, would contribute incrementally to reducing climate change, and would represent a minor to moderate beneficial impact in the regional context but a negligible beneficial impact in the global context”.  This is the justification for industrializing New Jersey’s most precious natural resource, for destroying the shore, the fishing industry and the tourism industry, and the widespread killing of wildlife. Coming to our beautiful Ocean City soon.

In addition to the above, I encourage all to review the videos posted on the Facebook pages “Protect our Coast-Delmarva” and “VA/NC Coastal Wind Energy Discussion” among others.  You will see what we in Ocean City will be enduring and the monstrosities that will take over our ocean and our harbor.

Carol Frazier
Ocean Pines