The Biden administration is urging a federal court to allow work to proceed on an offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.
In a brief filed Thursday evening in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Justice Department attorneys say coastal landowners and other opponents of the Revolution Wind project “needlessly rushed” to stop construction of 65 turbines in a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean between Montauk, New York, and Martha’s Vineyard.
The challengers’ April 18 request for a stay against the project rests on the “strawman premise” that approved construction activities could harm whales, turtles and other marine life before federal regulators complete a new Endangered Species Act analysis in light of modifications to and new information about the wind farm, DOJ wrote.
“[S]uch activities are already prohibited by the challenged federal approvals,” the department said.
