“The CRMC has utterly failed as Rhode Island’s bulwark against the harms associated with ocean development. From a procedural and substantive perspective, the CRMC has violated the SAMP in conducting its federal consistency reviews of private offshore wind development. If these errors remain uncorrected, the harm to Rhode Island and the greater public will be devastating and possibly permanent.”

“The SouthCoast Wind project and its expert cables plan violate the letter and spirit of the Ocean SAMP and the Red Book and should be denied or significantly revised after additional testing and monitoring on the impacts this project will have on the coastal environment, including fisheries, glacial moraine, and other species.”

Rich Hittinger resigns from the Fishermen’s Advisory Board to the CRMC. After a decade of service, he could no longer tolerate the CRMC’s disregard for the conflicts raised by the fishermen over the offshore wind developments.