LONG BEACH ISLAND, N.J., Oct. 16, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Save Long Beach Island, Inc. (Save LBI), a grass-roots organization dedicated to sound energy policies and preserving our shore and ocean environment, today urged the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) to end the egregious practice of letting operators of offshore wind farms postpone providing financial assurance earmarked for the future decommissioning and removal of turbines and related infrastructure.
Image caption: Save Long Beach Island (Save LBI).
The organization, which is backed by more than 10,000 supporters, also urged the agency to take two specific actions: 1) Invalidate previous financial assurance deferrals granted to offshore wind projects, compelling developers to provide that assurance soon after turbine operation begins, and 2) mandate that all future renewable energy approvals comply with strict regulations under the Code of Federal Requirements (CFR).
In a letter to DOI Secretary Doug Burgum, Save LBI said the practice of deferring financial responsibility “appears to be pervasive” and cited specific instances where the DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) authorized the owners of Rhode Island’s Revolution Wind and Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind projects to postpone payments for 15 years, giving the developers excessive leeway in establishing funding necessary to cover the substantial costs of decommissioning the planned 127 wind turbines off the coast of New England.
Citing one of many examples, the letter — signed by Save LBI attorney Thomas Stavola and Bob Stern, Ph.D scientist and president of the organization — says BOEM authorized a deferral for Revolution Wind on the basis that “providing the full amount of its decommissioning financial assurance prior to receiving any revenue under its power purchase agreements (PPAs) would be an unnecessary and unreasonable financial burden on the company.” However, such revenues are received by the company well before the 15-year deferral given.
A Lack of Accountability
BOEM’s approval of Revolution’s “departure request” ignores CFR requirements, which state, “Any departure approved under this section and its rationale must…be consistent with subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act…[and] protect the environment and the public health and safety to the same degree as if there was no approved departure from this part…”
Calling the approvals “patently absurd,” Stavola said “BOEM abdicated its responsibility to the American people by relying heavily on the ‘financial strength’ of the project instead of upholding its duty to protect the environment, public health, and safety.”
BOEM’s action in the case of Revolution Wind undermines CFR criteria in a number of ways, including:
- Increasing risk to federal taxpayers, as delineated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
- Foreclosing the possibility of using funds set aside for turbine decommissioning to address unforeseen events — such as Vineyard Wind’s blade failure in the summer of 2024.
- Heightening the risk that an offshore wind developer will be incapable of meeting financial assurance obligations 15 years down the road, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
- Elevating the possibility of littering the ocean with abandoned offshore wind infrastructure, which could potentially occur after only 10 to 15 years of operation — well before the structure’s official life expectancy. Long-term risks include the potential for derelict turbines, foundations, cables, substations to become hazards for marine wildlife, while leakage of lubricants, hydraulic fluids, and other pollutants contaminates the marine environment.
- Precluding a key enforcement tool. Without financial assurance, the mechanism that would compel full-site restoration is removed. CFR decommissioning requirements for offshore wind projects include the removal of all facilities, projects, cables, pipelines, obstructions, and clearing the seafloor of all obstructions created by activities authorized under the lease. What’s more, if developers become financially insolvent, regulators lose leverage to enforce compliance.
- Creating navigational/safety hazards. Abandoned turbines would pose hazards to vessels, fisheries, and navigation, as well as military and commercial radars.
- Degrading the marine environment in perpetuity. Abandoned turbines will harm marine habitats and interfere with the migration of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
“Beyond the many negatives created by not holding offshore wind developers accountable, there are other fundamental problems,” Stern noted. “It’s not clear what decommissioning means in the context of prior BOEM deferrals or whether the amount of financial assurance specified is up to the task.”
The Save LBI leader stressed the importance of explicitly defining what ‘decommissioning’ means and specifying the level of financial commitment required to fully remediate a site that is no longer active. “Decommissioning could range from merely removing turbine blades to removing the entire turbine tower along with the blades and a subsection of the foundation. We don’t know whether the amount of financial assurance includes onshore storage, processing, and ultimate disposal of materials.”
According to Save LBI estimates, the latter decommissioning effort could cost twice as much as the $325.4 million BOEM assigned to Revolution Wind. The Burgum letter states: “We would suggest that this subject requires major surgery in your upcoming Outer-Continental Shelf rule revisions, and that you consider the following elements in such a revision: a) that turbine removal down to a section of the foundation be required in all cases, b) that a preliminary turbine removal plan and cost be included in the Construction and Operations Plan, c) that BOEM prescribe methods of calculating the cost of turbine removal, including onshore processing and disposal, and, d) that financial assurance begin one year after commencement of operation and be provided for the full cost amount no later than 10 years after commencement of operation.
About Save LBI
Save LBI is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that has been active in ongoing litigation and other efforts to protect the coastal and marine environment from the senseless industrialization of our oceans. The organization is led by Beach Haven, N.J. resident Bob Stern, a Ph.D. scientist with experience in environmental planning and environmental law. He is a former manager of the U.S. Department of Energy office responsible for overseeing environmental protection related to energy projects and the Bureau of Air Quality Planning within the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). For more information on Save LBI and its efforts, please visit SaveLBI.org.
Contact: https://www.savelbi.org/contact
For more information click here: https://www.savelbi.org
NEWS SOURCE: Save Long Beach Island (Save LBI)
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