Offshore Wind Public Hearing Rescheduled In Ocean City
The hearing meant to be held in person on Oct. 3 has been rescheduled to November 14th at 6pm and is now a virtual meeting, according to Ocean Wind 1.
OCEAN CITY, NJ — The public hearing on offshore wind originally scheduled for Oct. 3 will now be held on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m., Ocean Wind 1 announced Friday.
Additionally, the original meeting was planned to be in-person at the Flanders Hotel, but it will now be held virtually over Zoom.
The hearing was postponed due to coastal flooding Ocean City was experiencing at the time.
It comes after the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved the transmission line under Ocean City’s streets and coming up at the beach lots at 35th Street, coming as a surprise to Ocean City officials as it happened the night before a meeting was scheduled between the BPU and Ocean City/Cape May County officials.
The hearing is hosted by Ocean Wind, LLC, the developers behind Ocean Wind 1, a proposed offshore wind project that would be located 15 miles of the coast of Ocean City.
The proposed project has plans to run cables under Ocean City beaches at the end of 35th Street and south, and wetlands north of Roosevelt Boulevard Bridge. These are Green Acres areas, which are preserved for open space.
Those who wish to participate via video conference may access the hearing at https://bit.ly/ocw1-ga-pub-hearing (note: if manually typing, please use all lowercase text), or go to https://zoom.us/join and enter Webinar ID: 845 6140 0881; Passcode: 407304. Those planning to offer comments at the hearing may sign up to do so during the hearing. A dial-in option will be available, as well. If using one-tap mobile: +16469313860,,84561400881# or for telephone, (646) 931-3860 or (888) 788-0099 (Toll Free); Webinar ID: 845 6140 0881; Passcode: 407304.
All written comments must be submitted by Nov. 28, 2022 to Tom Suthard at Orsted Ocean Wind 1, 600 Atlantic Ave., Suite 2, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401 or Info@OceanWind.com. Please reference “Proposed Diversion” in the subject line. A copy of any written comments must also be submitted to the Green Acres Program at PublicLandCompliance@dep.nj.gov. Please include “Ocean Wind 1” in the subject line. Email comments are preferred, but comments may also be mailed to: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Green Acres Program, Bureau of Legal Services and Stewardship, 401 East State Street, 7th Floor, Mail Code 401-07B, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0420 Attn: Ocean Wind 1 Application.
Ocean City and its residents have previously spoken out against the cables running through beaches multiple times.
-Veronica Flesher, Patch Staff
