A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the US’ first commercial scale offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind 1, finding that approval by federal regulators did not violate environmental law.
Activists alleged that construction and operation of the project could threaten the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, which is known to frequent the same area off Massachusetts.
“Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Service] or BOEM [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management] violated the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA],” wrote judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
