County takes on international offshore wind company to save commercial fishing jobs
On the largely undeveloped Delmarva peninsula – which is surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and includes portions of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia – local lawmakers are getting ready to take on a major international wind power company in an effort to save its crucial commercial fishing industry.
The Worcester County Commissioners in Maryland approved a resolution on Tuesday to acquire two properties in West Ocean City Harbor through eminent domain, which US Wind plans to develop into an operations and maintenance facility as it constructs a wind farm off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. The action was taken in an effort to protect the county’s historic commercial and sport fishing industries.
The commissioners passed the resolution as US Wind, a subsidiary of Italian-based Renexia SpA, plans to construct a 353-foot-long-by-30-foot-wide concrete pier at the harbor to service vessels used to construct a proposed wind farm consisting of up to 118 turbines at least 15 miles off the coast of Ocean City. Along with the pier, the company plans to install 383 feet of bulkhead.
The two properties the county plans to acquire are currently being used by Southern Connection Seafood and the Martin Fish Company, which are the only two commercial seafood wholesalers in the area where watermen can offload and sell their catches.
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The county’s plans for the two properties include developing a long-term lease with the existing owners, allowing them to continue serving the needs of the commercial fishing industry, according to the resolution that was passed.
"The commercial fishing industry is an integral and essential part of Worcester County’s economy," the resolution reads, adding that it, along with the sport fishing industry, are dependent on commercial marine support in and around West Ocean City Harbor.
The resolution also notes that the existence of the commercial fishing industry in the harbor is directly connected to federal support in maintaining the Ocean City Inlet, which oftentimes fills with sand and needs to be dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain its navigability.
The commissioners say in the resolution, that without the inlet’s access to the Atlantic Ocean, the commercial and sport fishing industries would "cease to exist in any meaningful way."
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Therefore, commissioners stressed the importance of having commercial fishing operations in West Ocean City Harbor.
"None of our actions today have been entered into lightly," Ted Elder, president of the Worcester County Board of Commissioners, said. "Over the past year or so, we have spoken out at every opportunity to Governor Moore, to state legislators, to the Maryland Public Service Commission, to Sussex County where wind turbine cables would come ashore, and to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), warning that Worcester County’s commercial and sport fishing industries would be destroyed if US Wind is permitted to close down the fish houses. They have turned a deaf ear to us."
The commercial fishing fleet is based out of West Ocean City, and its catches have an annual market value of over $3.7 million.
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The Martin Fish Company also has an operation that extracts blood from horseshoe crabs, which is then used for the testing of vaccines and by biotech industries in Maryland and around the world. The blue blood from horseshoe crabs has a value of about $15,000 per quart, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
However, also important to the area is the White Marlin Open, the largest billfish tournament in the world. Last year, the White Marlin Open generated 130 jobs, attracted 3,500 anglers and handed out $10.5 million in prize money.
While the tournament is not based in West Ocean City Harbor, all boats that enter the tournament must navigate through the inlet, which is again dredged because of federal funding credited to the commercial fishing industry.
"If there ever was a worthy use of eminent domain, this is it," Weston Young, Worcester County's chief administrative officer, said. "There is support for the actions being taken today by the Worcester County Commissioners, the Ocean City Mayor and Council, and area stakeholders, as well as an overwhelming majority of residents, businesses, and property owners, who are against US Wind destroying our commercial harbor and the resort’s viewshed."
US Wind responded to the actions taken by the county commissioners on Tuesday.
"Worcester County’s latest efforts would block much needed upgrades to the West Ocean City Harbor and the economic benefits that would flow from building a new facility in the area," Nancy Sopko, US Wind’s vice president of external affairs told FOX Business. "US Wind, the state of Maryland, local fishermen, and other key stakeholders are working on a Memorandum of Understanding to establish and fund programs to mitigate and lessen impacts. We also plan to replace existing offloading and ice services without disruption.
"US Wind’s commitment to building energy projects that help meet the region’s surging demand is unchanged," Sopko added. "We are prepared to explore every legal option at our disposal should the County continue these misguided efforts."
US Wind said in a brochure on the project that it has been approached by two property owners in the West Ocean City commercial harbor for the potential sale of their properties, suggesting the wind giant has not purchased the properties yet.
The commissioner’s decision to acquire the two properties comes amid another brewing battle between local authorities, wind energy providers and BOEM.
Green Building Law Update reported in November that the Town of Ocean City and Worcester County, along with several other groups including the Coastal Association of Realtors of Maryland, Save Right Whales Association, Waterman’s Association of Worcester County and White Marlin Open Inc. had filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior and BOEM.
The complaint was filed after BOEM released the final environmental impact statement for US Wind’s plans to construct over 100 wind turbines as close as about 10 miles from shore.
Ocean City has repeatedly expressed opposition to the wind farm because it will likely have a negative impact on the view offshore, which was acknowledged in the report.
Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan told Fox News Digital last year that he and other city officials are not opposed to wind energy, but would rather see the turbines relocated further offshore. But that, he recently said during a meeting, "has fallen on deaf ears."
The plaintiffs argue in their lawsuit that BOEM failed to weigh impacts on tourism and the local economy in its report, among other things, Green Building Law Update reported.