Safety concerns raised at the outset of litigation demand substantive review; recent F/V Mistress shipwreck discovery underscores the stakes for mariners
LITTLE COMPTON, R.I.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#boem–Green Oceans welcomes the U.S. Department of the Interior’s October 9 Federal District Court filing seeking remand of its approval of Revolution Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) to reevaluate compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). The request comes more than two years after Green Oceans and its fellow plaintiffs first challenged the project’s federal approvals claiming that the project violates federal law protecting U.S. waters. The filing itself does not cancel the project’s approval, and will require action from the federal court.
Green Oceans raised OCSLA compliance in its January 2024 complaint, asserting that federal approvals failed to meet statutory requirements for mariner safety, environmental protection, national security, a fair financial return to the United States, and protection of reasonable ocean uses. The complaint specifically addresses risks to commercial and recreational fishermen, boaters, and sailors operating within the project area, with additional OCSLA claims developed in an amended complaint. Green Oceans raised these concerns before construction was underway when opportunities remained to prevent the harms caused and delays to construction and associated costs. Revolution Wind proceeded with development despite the pending lawsuit and the risks to human and marine life identified by Green Oceans.
Although the court dismissed the standalone OCSLA claims in April 2025 on procedural grounds, that ruling did not establish that the project satisfied the federal safety requirements. This request to the court offers the Department of the Interior an opportunity to consider and redress the statutory obligations that Green Oceans identified years ago.
Green Oceans Trustee Barbara Chapman stated, “Congress enacted OCSLA to protect the interests of all Americans who depend on the Outer Continental Shelf. Interior has a duty to uphold those statutory protections, including mariner safety and effective search-and-rescue operations. As offshore wind projects proliferate, ensuring these obligations are met becomes increasingly critical.”
The Statute states that the Secretary “shall ensure” that authorized activities provide for safety, environmental protection, national security, and other statutory safeguards. The law also prohibits interference with reasonable ocean uses and consideration of fisheries and navigation. Green Oceans maintains that these duties require the Department of the Interior to protect the people who work, travel, fish, and recreate on the continental shelf throughout a project’s life cycle.
Green Oceans’ discovery of a wreck believed to be the F/V Mistress, located just 50 feet from Block Island Wind Farm turbine No. 1, illustrates why renewed scrutiny is necessary. The vessel sank on January 1, 2019, claiming the lives of two fishermen. Multiple agencies invested substantial resources into locating the wreckage in the months following the accident and failed, resulting in an inconclusive accident investigation. The discovery does not establish that a turbine caused the sinking. It does, however, warrant examining whether offshore infrastructure affected emergency access, search patterns, and rescue operations and whether the assumptions used to approve subsequent projects according to the OCSLA statute adequately reflect conditions mariners and rescuers encounter at sea.
About Green Oceans
Green Oceans is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) not for profit organization dedicated to protecting the ocean and the life it sustains. The organization works to preserve marine ecosystems and fisheries and to ensure that decisions affecting the ocean are informed by science, transparency, and responsible stewardship. Green Oceans also works to educate the public about the environmental, economic, navigational, and safety implications of activities that industrialize the marine environment.
Contacts
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Green Oceans
media@green-oceans.org
www.green-oceans.org
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