Ørsted hires Coast Guard waterways chief

Proposed vessel transit corridors (light blue) lanes through offshore wind energy areas off Massachusetts will be part of a draft Coast Guard plan expected in late 2019. Coast Guard image.

The former Coast Guard waterways management chief for New England has joined offshore wind energy company Ørsted, as the emerging U.S. industry comes to grips with pushback from commercial fishermen and other interests.

Ed LeBlanc, a former Coast Guard officer and most recently chief of the Waterways Management Division for Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England, will be manager of marine affairs for Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind, the Denmark-based energy company’s American division.

In his last...

https://www.workboat.com/news/offshore/orsted-hires-coast-guard-waterways-chief/

BOEM extends, expands review of offshore wind project

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is extending its environmental review of the proposed 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind offshore wind project, and will expand its “cumulative impacts analysis” of other massive wind power plans for the East Coast.

The news Friday is another blow to Vineyard Wind’s plan for 84 turbines on its federal lease 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. The company had expected BOEM approval of a environmental impact statement by mid-July, and has warned earlier...

https://www.workboat.com/news/offshore/boem-extends-expands-review-of-offshore-wind-project/