At a 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 the earth’s soil.

            In Congress, Smith has been leading the fight to hold the federal agencies overseeing the massive, unprecedented offshore wind projects accountable and demanding total transparency from top federal officials over the disastrous risks posed by the projects.

            Last year, Smith’s legislation to require the Federal Aviation Administration to certify the impact of offshore wind on radar for commercial and defense aircraft was passed by the House.

            Additionally, Smith secured an independent investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into the impacts that the wind turbines will have on the environment, fishing industry, military operations, radar, navigational safety and more. The ongoing audit by the congressional watchdog is expected to be completed this fall.

            “These potential problems with the high-powered cables are just the latest concerns highlighted by local residents that big government and big corporate interests are kicking to the side to push through potentially unsafe, untested systems—push through with unimaginable speed and disregard for the caution signs along the way and putting human and sea life at grave risk,” Smith said.

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