But the less good news is that New York's first offshore wind project has to deal with endless NIMBY challenges at all after doing the work necessary to obtain the many federal, state and local permits the project needs, all subject to judicial review of the granting of those permits.
The Plaintiffs in this case alleged that the installation of the onshore transmission cables associated with the South Fork Wind project might somehow aggravate PFAS contamination in the groundwater in the vicinity of where those cables would be installed. The Judge found this possibility had been identified and addressed in the permitting of the project.
The Judge concluded that the Plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of showing likely harm in the face of the past consideration of the very thing about which they were complaining. The Judge also found that the fact that the Plaintiffs waited until after they received unfavorable decisions in other cases to make this complaint "undercuts the sense of urgency that ordinarily accompanies a motion for preliminary relief and suggests that there is, in fact, no irreparable injury.”
While the Judge denied the Plaintiffs' motion for an injunction halting the project, the litigation can, and I suspect will, continue.
I can't help but noticing that the Plaintiffs' lawyers are from Houston, a long way from the far side of Long Island.
It seems this case is yet more proof for the proposition that action by Congress and the Executive Branch may be necessary to make it just a little bit easier to get renewable energy from there to here.
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