Today in federal court, Judge Carl Nichols granted Empire Wind’s request to resume offshore construction (Case no. 1:26-cv-00004-CJN). Green Oceans, a nonprofit national environmental and public-interest organization, expressed concern that the ruling allows construction to proceed despite unresolved national-security and aviation safety risks associated with large offshore wind installations.

Empire Wind, owned by Equinor, consists of 54 turbines, beginning 12 nautical miles off the coast of Long Island. Green Oceans emphasized that extensive unclassified technical evidence demonstrates that offshore wind turbines can degrade military, aviation, and maritime radar systems. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum cited newly classified findings when issuing a federal moratorium on offshore wind construction on December 22, reinforcing concerns long raised in the public record.

Lisa Knight, M.D., Ph.D., President of Green Oceans, stated that while the organization respects the Court’s decision, significant safety and security questions remain unanswered.

“We respect the Court’s ruling,” Knight said, “but the federal government ordered a suspension of offshore wind construction based on newly classified findings. While the details remain classified, the decision itself demonstrated that a serious national-security vulnerability exists. Allowing construction to resume before that vulnerability is fully addressed exposes both our national defenses and the public to unnecessary risk.”

Knight explained that Empire Wind’s turbines rise more than 900 feet above sea level and are located near three major commercial airports serving nearly 150 million passengers annually.

“There is no indication in the record that Empire Wind ever conducted line-of-sight analyses for nearby airport surveillance radars,” Knight said. “In fact, Empire Wind’s own airspace obstruction evaluation explicitly states: ‘This analysis did not consider electromagnetic interference on communications systems, navigation, or surveillance radar systems.’”

“The same filing,” Knight added, “indicates that the Federal Aviation Administration has not completed full hazard determinations for turbines located beyond 12 nautical miles offshore.”

“Turbines beyond 12 nautical miles can be within line-of-sight of critical radar system and thus will still pose risks to civilian and military aircraft,” Knight said. “Yet no comprehensive evaluation of those risks appears to have been completed.”

Green Oceans Trustee Michael Lombardi, who has extensive experience operating in Rhode Island waters and supporting defense-related research programs, noted that the scale and location of offshore wind projects raise unresolved security concerns across air, surface, and subsurface domains.

“Fully mitigating those risks would require billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded measures,” Lombardi said, “yet there is no indication that such costs were evaluated or disclosed as part of the project approvals.”

Green Oceans also questioned claims of irreparable harm advanced by the developer.

“Empire Wind’s Economic Impacts analysis reports employment in job-years rather than permanent positions,” Knight explained. “When those figures are annualized, they correspond to approximately 52 permanent jobs, not the larger employment totals often cited.”

Green Oceans called on policymakers and the public to ensure that national security, aviation safety, and environmental protection are not subordinated to construction timelines or commercial pressure.

“No commercial interest should ever take precedence over the safety and security of the nation,” Knight said.

About Green Oceans

Green Oceans is a 501(c)3 nonprofit community organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the ocean and the life it supports. Since 2023, Green Oceans and its coalition including four Native American tribes, and environmental, energy, national security and fishing groups, have worked to challenge large-scale offshore wind development based on its documented impacts on marine ecosystems, energy costs, livelihoods, and national security.

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