New Jersey Lawmakers Call for Halt to Offshore Wind Project, Seek Probe of Whale Deaths

A group of county, state, and federal officials from New Jersey are calling for a halt to offshore wind turbine work and launching an independent investigation into the growing number of dead whales and dolphins washing up on the state’s beaches.

During a press conference at Seven Presidents Park in Long Branch, New Jersey, on April 5, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said: “The whales are the canaries in the coal mine they’re telling us something we all need to listen to.”

Smith and Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) are sponsoring a bill calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) probe into the deaths. Government scientists have seemed to be oblivious to why the animals are dying, Smith said, and he questioned whether that was an accident.

“It’s a very well-hidden initiative by our governor and President Joe Biden,” Smith said.

Smith and Van Drew’s bill coincides with legislation proposed by two New Jersey state Assembly members.

Assembly Resolution 181 urges a moratorium on sonar surveys and wind turbine mapping off the state’s coast and is introduced by Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger and Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn.

Scharfenberger told reporters that an investigation must be conducted by “parties with no connection to any of this.”

County Commission Director Thomas Arnone stated that Monmouth County officials have approved a resolution calling for an investigation. He said commissioners are required to safeguard public assets like the oceanfront Seven Presidents Park.

“It’s our job to protect this. It’s a simple equation, just stop, investigate, and tell us why,” Arnone said.

The wind turbine work has produced controversy on both coasts, with dead marine mammals, complaints from the commercial fishing industry, and coastal communities voicing concerns over the possible effects on tourism.

Scientists and officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have persistently claimed that there is no evidence that the work harms marine life. On April 4, the federal agency released a report admitting that a project planned to be built off the southern New Jersey coast could “adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals but rejected the notion that it could seriously harm or kill them.

Smith told the media that “adverse effect” indicates “serious, serious harm.”

“We’re going to see even more whales washing up on our shores as time goes on, and we need to know why,” Smith said.