OCEAN CITY, MD - A United States District Court judge has allowed a lawsuit over US Wind’s proposed offshore wind project to continue, though will now consider fewer arguments.
Multiple plaintiffs, including the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, the Mayor and Town Council of Fenwick Island, and the Commissioners of Worcester County, challenged federal approval of US Wind’s proposed offshore project that would place 114 wind turbines off the coast of Sussex and Worcester Counties.
In November, US Wind entered the suit as an intervening defendant, joining the U.S. Department of the Interior and other federal agencies in protecting the project.
The suit against the defendant included eight total complaints for the courts to weigh in the proceedings. In an opinion issued Wednesday, those counts have been slightly reduced.
Earlier this year, the federal government filed for a partial dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing Ocean City’s claims that the project’s federal approval failed to properly consider two environmental risks were invalid. US Wind, however, pushed for a full dismissal of all eight complaints.
On Wednesday, July 2, a United States District Court judge ruled in favor of the government’s partial dismissal request and dropped two of the environmental arguments from the suit. US Wind was also granted dismissal of three complaints, including the two environmental arguments. The remaining five causes of action against them, however, were allowed to continue.
“After consideration of all of the arguments, for the reasons stated below, the Federal Defendants’ partial motion to dismiss will be granted and US Wind’s motion to dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part,” the court’s opinion reads.
On Thursday afternoon, Ocean City's Mayor and Council applauded the judge's decision and underscored their belief that US Wind's proposed project would harm Ocean City's economy, community, industries, and local ecosystem.
"As we have stated for over eight years, this project threatens to devastate our tourism industry, commercial and recreational fishing sectors, and poses risks to national defense," Ocean City officials said in a statement. "It could lead to the deaths of hundreds of marine mammals, including the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale—all so that an Italian company can receive subsidies from the State of Maryland to produce unreliable and expensive electricity."