Ocean County Leader

At a virtual community education meeting today in Manasquan, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) and a host of experts and public officials informed local residents about the dangers of high-powered transmission cables that are slated to make landfall in Sea Girt and continue through Manasquan, Wall, and Howell as part of the planned Atlantic Shores South offshore wind project.

“The reckless push by the Biden and Murphy Administrations to stand-up expensive and expansive industrial wind farms in size and scope never seen before—without real review, examination, or most importantly, local input—is appalling,” said Smith.

“We know that without a change in plans, the communities of Sea Girt, Wall, Howell and Manasquan—who are being forced to host the huge cables coming off the wind turbines—will be the next victims,” said Smith, who noted the cables would transmit energy from 195 offshore wind turbines off Atlantic City.

The event was organized by Stop the High-Risk Power Cables, a local group of residents working to raise awareness about the dangerous cables. Although originally planned to be an in-person meeting, the event had to be moved largely online after drawing overwhelming interest from members of the local community, far exceeding venue capacity.

“We can’t find an example anywhere in the world where this much power is landing on a beach and running within 15-20 yards of homes, schools and recreation areas,” said Kimberly Paterson, one of the founding members of StopTheHighRiskPowerCables.org. “The regulatory agencies’ and developers’ documents acknowledge there is a risk but they are charging ahead anyway. Residents should not be expected to be guinea pigs in New Jersey’s high-risk experiment.”

In addition to Smith, a wide range of experts and local officials also presented at the meeting, including Manasquan Mayor Michael Mangan; Sea Girt Mayor Donald Fetzer; Assemblyman Paul Kanitra; Mike Dean from Save the East Coast; Cindy Zipf from Clean Ocean Action; and Keith Moore from Defend Brigantine Beach.

“The work needed on these projects—which could last for years and will inevitably require ongoing maintenance—will indefinitely turn neighborhoods into hazardous construction zones,” said Smith, who noted that residential roads would have to be torn up to place trenches for the powerlines running past schools, homes, small businesses and parks.

“The impact on local landscapes—personal, public and commercial properties—is simply unknown,” said Smith citing a study by Dr. Jochen Fricke on a similar project in Germany that found these cables can carry so much excess heat they can dry out earth’s soil.

In Congress, Smith has been leading efforts to hold federal agencies overseeing massive offshore wind projects accountable while demanding total transparency regarding potential risks posed by these projects.

Last year Smith’s legislation requiring Federal Aviation Administration certification on radar impacts from offshore wind was passed by House Representatives.

Additionally Smith secured an independent investigation by Government Accountability Office (GAO) into environmental fishing industry military operations radar navigational safety impacts caused by wind turbines with audit completion expected this fall.

“These potential problems with high-powered cables just latest concerns highlighted by locals that big government corporate interests pushing unsafe untested systems unimaginable speed disregard caution signs risking human sea life grave risk” concluded Smith.