The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent congressional watchdog, has agreed to launch an investigation into the impact of the development of windfarms offshore New Jersey
The investigation will examine the potential effects of the development of offshore wind on the environment, fishing industry, military operations, navigational safety and other issues, said Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ).
Representative Smith said the GAO would conduct an “aggressive, independent investigation” into what he claimed are the “ocean-altering impacts of the 3,400 offshore wind turbines slated for the Jersey shore” and “address concerns” that, he claimed, “the Biden Administration and Governor Murphy continue to dismiss.
“It is absolutely critical that New Jersey residents understand all the impacts of these offshore wind projects,” said Representative Smith, which, he claimed, “will permanently transform our marine environment and seascape.”
The GAO study was requested by Representative Smith in a 15 May letter with other Republican leaders who are critics of offshore wind including House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman, Representative Jeff Van Drew and Representative Andy Harris.
In the letter, Smith and his colleagues asked the GAO to examine a wide range of concerns, including air and maritime safety, including the operation of radar systems; impacts on air traffic, including military training missions off the Atlantic Coast; commercial fishing activities; and the marine environment. He also requested the GAO to examine the resiliency of offshore wind to hurricanes and other extreme weather events off the Atlantic Coast.
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