Posted on March 31, 2025
The town of Nantucket filed an appeal in federal court Thursday, alleging that the SouthCoast Wind project was improperly permitted and will harm the island’s “heritage tourism economy.”
The appeal was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs are targeting the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), claiming it violated federal law by permitting the project.
“While BOEM has admitted that the project will adversely affect Nantucket’s internationally renowned historic district, which powers the Town’s heritage tourism economy, Nantucket alleges that BOEM violated federal law in failing to address those harms before greenlighting the project,” the town said Thursday.
In January, on the last business day of the Biden administration, BOEM announced its approval of SouthCoast Wind’s construction and operations plan. The project is planned about 20 nautical miles south of Nantucket, and includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbines and up to five substation platforms.
Last September, Massachusetts announced its intention to buy 1,087 megawatts of power from the 1,287 megawatt project, with the remaining 200 MW going to Rhode Island.
“Nantucket is a premier international destination for our commitment to preservation,” Town Select Board Chair Brooke Mohr said. “Despite our repeated attempts to help BOEM and the developer find balance between the nation’s renewable energy goals and the protection of what makes us unique, they have refused to work with us and to follow the law. We are taking action to hold them accountable.”
The appeal alleges that BOEM violated the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The NHPA “requires federal agencies to evaluate and find ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate harm to historic properties before approving projects that may impact them.”
“Nantucket alleges that BOEM failed to fully consider project harms, including future turbine blade failures like the disintegration that occurred in the neighboring Vineyard Wind Project during the height of tourist season in 2024, washing tons of material ashore and making international news,” the town said.
“This is not about protecting rich people’s views. Our entire economy depends on heritage tourism. If people no longer want to come to Nantucket, that has a real impact on our small businesses and the people who operate them,” Select Board Vice Chair Matt Fee said.
In a separate legal challenge earlier this month, a Nantucket-based group opposed to offshore wind asked the federal government to reconsider key environmental permits it issued last summer for two proposed wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts known as New England Wind 1 and New England Wind 2.
Like SouthCoast Wind, these projects received all of their federal permits under the Biden administration. Wind advocates worry these lawsuits could create an opening for the Trump administration to stop the handful of late-stage projects that so far have not been affected by the president’s executive actions targeting offshore wind.
