SEA GIRT, NJ – On Sunday morning, around 500 residents from Sea Girt, Manasquan, Wall Township, and Howell gathered to protest the offshore wind projects and high-risk power cables slated to run through their towns. Organized by the nonprofit group Stop The High-Risk Power Cables, the rally aimed to raise awareness about the impact these transmission lines could have on local communities and draw the attention of Governor Phil Murphy.
Protesters assembled outside the New Jersey National Guard training center, where Governor Murphy was attending an annual military review. For two hours, they held signs and voiced their demands, though they didn’t get to speak directly with the governor. However, many believe their message was seen and heard as his caravan passed by—a message that's been growing louder over the past few months.
Sea Girt resident Alex Fatenko shared her concerns: "I live where the line is set to go, just eight feet from my front door. It’s emitting so much energy, and no one has ever had something like this installed so close to a home. It’s outrageous. I want to be here 50 years from now, free from cancer or other health risks it could cause. My home is my biggest investment, and this was pushed through with no regard for the people it impacts."
'The rush to install these costly offshore wind farms, with industrial cables ripping through towns like Sea Girt, Manasquan, Wall, and Howell, is a disaster waiting to happen'
- Congressman Smith
Photo Credit: Jim Lonergan
Photo Credit: Jim Lonergan
2025 Governor candidate Jack Ciattarelli speaking with residentsPhoto Credit: Jim Lonergan
Photo Credit: Jim Lonergan
Photo Credit: Jim Lonergan
Photo Credit: Jim Lonergan
NJ Assemblyman Paul Kinitra, a vocal opponent of the plan, also attended the rally. He criticized the Murphy administration, saying, "The Murphy Administration and DEP don’t care about Sea Girt, Manasquan, or the 10th legislative district. They don’t care how hard you work to live here or how hard your elected officials fight to protect these communities. They see you as elitists and want to take you down a peg."
Kinitra added, "We recently held a hearing on energy rates in NJ, and they're rising because the NJBPU hasn’t invested in traditional energy infrastructure. Instead, they’re focused on pushing a subsidized industry, ignoring our current energy needs. Just 10 years ago, NJ was a net exporter of energy—now we’re a net importer, mainly from Pennsylvania, with pollution coming from PA. plants, where state boundaries don’t matter."
He also warned about the power cables: "These cables, with unprecedented energy levels, will run just feet from your homes. We can’t stop them unless we stop the entire project. Over 50% of NJ residents don’t support this, and more than 75% of those living along the Jersey Shore oppose offshore wind." For more insight on transmission line risk, click HERE
"The data shows that this project will never make economic sense, will be a financial burden to rate payers, and it appears that the BPU forgot to do basic planning by not considering the fact that they would be running the cables through an active Superfund site here in Sea Girt and Manasquan,” said Madeliene McCarthy, Manasquan resident. For more on financial impact on tax and rate payers, click HERE
Kimberly Patterson, the spokesperson and co-founder of Stop The High-Risk Power Cables organization shared “we have been at this for 5 months. In the end, we have to ask - where do candidates stand? So we are fortunate today to have someone who is running for Governor, who reached out to us and wanted to let you know where he stands."
Jack Cittarelli, running again for Governor of New Jersey in 2025 said, “I'm down on Long Beach Island, and like you, we're fighting down there. Let's make one thing clear, we are going to stop this project. For those who are here today, you're here on behalf of millions, a majority of New Jersey residents, young or old, male or female, Republican or Democrat, we are going to put a stop to it. I don't know how it is you achieve energy independence when you give a billion dollars of our money to foreign companies to put wind turbines off our Jersey Shore.”
"The rush to install these costly offshore wind farms, with industrial cables ripping through towns like Sea Girt, Manasquan, Wall, and Howell, is a disaster waiting to happen," said U.S. Congressman Smith. "Governor Murphy’s disregard for local concerns, the dangers posed by these projects, and the reckless spending behind them is senseless. It's time for him to listen to the great people of our state, including the hundreds at the Make Our Voices Heard Rally, and put an end to this slow-motion train wreck."
