Monica Samayoa Oregon Public Broadcasting August 13th 2024
Background by Alan Journet and Bill Gorham:
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management oversees the development of offshore energy projects such as those involving the development of offshore wind farms off Southern Oregon. As stated in the OPB article, this is among the first steps in a long process that would not see offshore wind turbines off Oregon before 2035. All that has happened so far is that BOEM has designated areas off the coast that qualified renewable energy companies may lease to begin studying the physical, biological, and geological resources that could affect and be affected by the construction and operation of wind farms. Simply leasing these areas for studies imposes no damage on the oceans, the substrate or the marine species living and migrating through these areas. This is why BOEM’s issuing a “Finding of No Significant Impacts” (FONSI) to people or the environment in the Environmental Assessment is entirely appropriate.
The next steps will involve successful lease holders developing proposals to conduct their surveys and analyses following an approved Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP). Preparing and getting BOEM’s approval of the SAP typically takes a year, and the companies will take from three to five years conducting their studies. During this time, Lease applicants will prepare a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) that BOEM will review for completeness. Once BOEM deems the COP complete, they will prepare a detailed Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to identify and mitigate any negative environmental impacts. The review of the COP and completion of the EIS process typically takes at least three years. The development of the EIS will include public scoping hearings, after which BOEM will issue a draft EIS; the review of the draft EIS, will include public hearings and will be subject to public review and comment. Following the review of the draft EIS, BOEM will issue a final EIS and at least 30-days later a Record of Decision (ROD).
It is only after BOEM has issued their final EIS and ROD will lease holders be able to start any construction. Based on these timeframes, it is highly unlikely that wind farms would be installed off Oregon before the mid-2030s.
It is worth noting that BOEM and the State of Oregon’s Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) have held dozens of public and private meetings with fishing, labor, business, and other groups as well as nation-to-nation consultations since 2019. While many groups indicate they are dissatisfied with the degree to which their concerns are reflected in changes to the projected wind farms, relevant details of individual projects are speculative until environmental sampling and project-specific engineering has been completed.
While potential impacts to resources can be estimated based on offshore wind projects off the US East Coast as well as elsewhere in the world, detailed analysis of project-specific impacts will need to be addressed in the draft EIS. However, discussions of potential impacts and means to minimize, avoid, or compensate for those impacts should be done now and throughout the siting, environmental review, construction, operational, and decommissioning phases.
What is being lost in much of the discussion to date are the potential benefits that could come from the development of floating offshore wind in Southern Oregon, as discussed in the 2022 study by the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE).
SOCAN supports the active, civil discussion of both the potential impacts and benefits of development of offshore wind, and opposes the blanket opposition of these projects. One factor is clear, our oceans are changing dramatically and quickly due to our continued burning of fossil fuels. The ocean is now hotter than ever before in human history. Delaying the development of the tools to stop burning fossil fuels will only lead to more dramatic and potentially catastrophic impacts for future generations.
We must recognize that there is no source of energy that is totally benign, and weigh the costs and benefits among those available sources when we undertake a project. We should also acknowledge that to minimize the environmental consequences of energy projects, we should each individually and all collectively reduce our energy demand.
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Oregon’s coast is inching closer to generating renewable electricity using floating offshore wind turbines, though any construction is still years away.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, announced it has finalized an environmental assessment. The assessment looked at potential impacts from issuing leases to develop floating offshore wind in the region. BOEM is the federal agency tasked with identifying, proposing and leasing the ocean areas.
But residents and fishery groups say their requests to pause and delay these leases are falling on deaf ears. That has led one Southern Oregon county to ask voters to decide whether to actively oppose development in November.
