New Jersey Offshore Wind Development Fatal to Whales, Suit Says

The National Marine Fisheries Service unlawfully authorized the incidental take—harm or killing—of Humpback whales and North Atlantic right whales off the coast of New York and New Jersey, an environmental group alleged in a federal lawsuit in an attempt to block the agency’s actions.

The group Save Long Beach Island challenged the agency’s determination that an offshore wind energy development will only have a negligible impact on the species, saying it doesn’t take into account the cumulative impacts of noise pollution.

NMFS greenlighted 11 incidental take authorizations permitting offshore wind energy development, and five additional authorizations are pending. In total, ...