ACK for Whales Sues Federal Government for Violating Offshore Continental Shelf Land Act

Government violated Administrative Procedures Act in granting Vineyard Wind approval of its Record of Decision and Construction and Operations Plan
Also ignored national defense threats
Suit seeks orders vacating approvals because they were unlawfully granted

NANTUCKET, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACK for Whales, the Nantucket non-partisan grassroots environmental group, and two local businessmen have sued the federal government for violating federal law in allowing Vineyard Wind to build offshore wind turbines that destroy the environment, harm endangered whales and other marine life, destroy historic viewsheds and dramatically drive up the costs of electricity.

The suit, filed Friday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges the Biden Department of Interior (Interior) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) violated the Offshore Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when they approved the Records of Decision and Construction and Operations Plan necessary for Vineyard Wind to build the Vineyard Wind 1 project off Nantucket, by ignoring the disruptive effects the turbines have on civil aviation and national defenses, imperiling safety.

The suit also alleges BOEM continues to violate the law by allowing Vineyard Wind to continue to operate. The unlawfully granted approvals should be invalidated until the Federal Government complies with the relevant statutes and regulations, the suit says.

“They were in such a rush to achieve their political goals, they didn’t care what corners they cut, the threat to our national defense or personal flying safety, or how high our electric bills would go,” said ACK4Whales President Vallorie Oliver. “This was politics at its worst.”

“Those turbine towers have pushed me out of waters where I caught fish and lobsters for decades,” said Danny Pronk, a Nantucket lobsterman. “The turbines are killing my business.”

William Vanderhoop, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, has run a whale watching and charter fishing business, Tomahawk Charters, for decades. Vanderhoop said his business has been devastated by the turbines. “The Biden Administration chose a big, foreign-owned wind company, Vineyard Wind, over local businessmen, hurt my business and jacked up our electric rates in the process,” he said, “all in the name of a big green lie.”

“Interior and BOEM ignored clear evidence developed by a sister agency, the federal Department of Energy, among others, that showed that the turbines would disrupt national defense and civil aviation remedies,” Thomas Stavola Jr. Esq., plaintiffs’ counsel said. “That violates the law. After Interior instructed BOEM to reevaluate Vineyard Wind, it failed to do so. That also violates the law. These approvals should be invalidated immediately.”

The Energy Department has known since at least 2011 that wind turbines interfere with radar systems and formed a working group to solve that problem. It has not yet achieved a solution, and the threats to civil aviation and national defense radars persist, as acknowledged by a 2025 GAO report. A 2024 DOE report confirmed radar interference issues, noting mitigation (such as increasing radar sensitivity) might cause missed targets. A 2022 National Academies Report confirmed significant electromagnetic reflectivity of turbines and their impact on radar. In addition, a 2020 BOEM study acknowledged the problem: “The presence of wind energy installation is known to impact radar systems.”

About ACK for Whales

ACK for Whales is a group of Nantucket community members who are concerned about the negative impacts of offshore wind development off the south shores of our beloved Island. The Massachusetts / Rhode Island wind area is bigger than the state of Rhode Island and will ultimately be occupied by 2,400 turbines, each taller than the John Hancock building in Boston, connected by thousands of miles of high voltage cables if current plans are completed.