NJ to study environmental impacts of offshore wind projects

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey officials will commission studies on the environmental impact of offshore wind energy projects. They’ll study animals as large as whales, and as small as clams. The $3.4 million in surveys are designed to address a major concern raised by opponents and even some supporters of the nascent industry. Using money from wind developers, the state is funding projects to study conditions in clam beds that will overlap with wind turbine farms, and to study the topography of the ocean floor including sunlight conditions, temperature and carbon dioxide levels. The state also will join Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York in the Regional Wildlife Science Entity.