A commercial fishing group has asked a Boston judge to make a summary judgement - a judgment without a trial - in its lawsuit to halt the under-construction 800MW Vineyard Wind 1 project off Massachusetts.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) - a national coalition of fishing representatives - filed the request in Massachusetts federal court.
RODA filed suit earlier this year after the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, part of the Department of the Interior (DOI), approved the project.
The suit names the DOI and other federal government agencies. Vineyard Wind, a partnership of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has intervened in the case as a defendant.
In its filing, RODA said the project approval was rushed and illegal. Vineyard Wind 1 will seriously harm commercial fishing and the rare Atlantic Right Whale, it said
RODA also pointed to greater regional impacts that have not yet been fully studied from other offshore wind farms that are planned off the US East Coast.
Vineyard Wind declined to comment because the lawsuit is ongoing. The Department of Interior also declined to comment.
