The persistent, percussive noise is inescapable as the foundation pilings on Beach Road near Tisbury Marketplace are pounded in place for the fast-approaching offshore wind facility.
The persistent, percussive noise is inescapable as the foundation pilings on Beach Road near Tisbury Marketplace are pounded in place for the fast-approaching offshore wind facility.
It is frightening to realize how much louder all this will be to the sea life around us as the actual wind farm construction gets under way as water amplifies sound. Our dog is terrorized by the power and constancy of the noise, and we live approximately three-quarters of a mile from the work and on land.
The noise that some of our military’s underwater maneuvers create has been shown to disorient and even kill dolphins with their sensitive sonar abilities. Some whales also have this echolocation ability, while others use low-frequency sound waves to communicate with each other. Our home waters are shared by the endangered right whales. It is estimated that fewer than 350 of them still survive. We fear the noise regarding all the ocean construction required to anchor the huge windmills has not been meaningfully considered.
Living relatively near the land-based construction and experiencing the noise it generates makes us very worried. Is there anything that can be done or perhaps undone?
Susan Jones and Bruce Yauney
Vineyard Haven
Comments
Excellent comments Susan and
Veronica Bonnet NantucketExcellent comments Susan and Bruce. It is a real surprise that more people are not voicing concerns about this. Did you know, that just for the SouthCoast Wind projects, there will be 2,080 HELICOPTER trips (presumably from the Vineyard Wind Facility)per year during the 35 year operation and maintenance of that project. There are 9 wind lease areas/projects just off Marthas Vineyard. You can find this information in the SouthCoast Wind Draft Environmental Impact Statement released in February by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Public Comments closed on April 18 and those comments are now available on the BOEM website. No one who commented mentioned a connection to Martha's Vineyard. The developers have bought the silence of so many coastal communities and eNGOs. People are just simply unaware. Thank you for your insightful comments here.
Very good if painful
Quitsa ChilmarkVery good if painful observation and expression of concern. What we don't know about the impact of the vast industrialization of the near coastal waters south of the island is far greater than what we do know. The Federal regulators and the commonwealth have turned themselves into a chwerleading section for the wind industry and give them everything they want with no questions asked. The few local governments that try to stand up and ask questions -- like the Edgartown Conservation Commission -- get squashed like bugs. NOAA, which is supposed to be protecting the right whales as the administrator of the Endangered Species Act, has granted "incidental take" permission to Vineyard Wind and the other projects permits to "harass" and even kill the right whales and other marine mammals. I hated the guy but the only good thing Trump did was order a standstill in the offshore wind farm permitting so that the cumulative impact could be assessed. The Biden administration reversed that in minutes with no studies completed and no justification. I fear that we will awaken from this dream in a few years and realize that we have irreparably damaged the oceans. This is not the best answer to mitigating the risk of climate change, it's just a fabulously profitable business that will make billions in guaranteed profits for its investors. Those subsidies dollars would be better spent on energy conservation and other technologies.
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