Ocean City, Maryland and nearby communities and local businesses have sued the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) over what they claim was the illegal environmental approval of US Wind’s 2GW Maryland offshore wind farm.

The plaintiffs sued BOEM in federal court. US Wind is not a party to the suit.

The Maryland communities and businesses allege that the environmental review^[1] for the Maryland project was inadequate, that climate change was not properly accounted for and that the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale will be harmed. 

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The plaintiffs argue that there is “no analysis” of how the thousands of turbines due to be installed at US offshore wind farms – beyond just the Maryland project – will “impact the travel and behavioural patterns of these endangered whales”.

Analysts point to the danger of the 5 November election because of the timing of the suit. If ex-president Donald Trump wins, and takes office on January 20, he has promised to halt offshore wind on “day one”.

The US Justice department would have to defend BOEM in court, and a Trump administration could decide that it does not do so, analyst Timothy Fox, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners in Washington told Bloomberg Law.

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