Newport mansions owner sues federal government over wind farm it says will mar views

• Offshore construction has already begun on the South Fork Wind Farm and Revolution Wind is currently working on land to route its transmission cable, according to the Providence Journal.

• The lawsuit asks a judge to order the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to reconsider its permitting decision, draft a new environmental impact statement and declare the government failed to “minimize harm” to the historic properties when the approvals were granted.

• A representative for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Contra

Several groups in support of offshore wind signed a letter Monday in response to the lawsuit saying the environmental benefits of clean wind energy outweigh the visual impacts, the Providence Journal reported. Groups like the Green Energy Consumers Alliance and Climate Action Rhode Island accused the plaintiffs of exercising “energy privilege” by valuing views “over the civilization-level threat faced by our region and world from the climate crisis.”

Key Background

The Newport complaint is far from the first lawsuit filed in an attempt to stop the construction of wind farms off the coast of New England and the mid-Atlantic. Nantucket residents sued the federal government last year after it permitted the country’s first commercial-scale wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, claiming its construction would further harm the already endangered right whale population. The lawsuit was thrown out in May, but the group ACK For Whales filed an appeal in September. The project, Vineyard Wind, completed its first turbine this fall and construction is progressing despite pending lawsuits. A group of Long Island residents had their lawsuit thrown out in July after they challenged the onshore construction of the South Fork Wind farm on the basis it would worsen the levels of “forever chemicals” in their groundwater. Three resident groups in New Jersey sued the state in June over approvals of its first planned wind farm, called Ocean Wind I, and claimed the project violates the state’s coastal management rules.

Tangent

The famous “Newport mansions” refer to a collection of homes built by prominent American families during the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. The most notable homes include The Breakers and Marble House, built by members of the Vanderbilt family; The Elms, constructed by coal baron Edward Julius Berwind; and Rosecliff, which belonged to silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs. These homes and several others have all been gifted to the Preservation Society of Newport County and are open to the public for tours. Several are on the list of National Historic Landmarks and the society estimates the mansions draw about 1 million visitors to the area per year.