(Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Officials from the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians are suing the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management over its decision to greenlight two areas off the Oregon Coast for potential floating wind energy projects.
The southern Oregon tribe – which passed a resolution against floating offshore wind energy in those areas last November – filed its suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Eugene against the ocean energy bureau, accusing it of violating two federal laws meant to protect the environment and culturally significant areas.
“The decision to file this legal action was not taken lightly,” Brad Kneaper, chair of the tribal council, said in a news release. “We would much rather work collaboratively with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to determine where the best places are to develop wind energy, minimizing the impacts to the coast and our people.”
The suit comes two weeks after federal officials announced they would hold an auction for companies interested in surveying and proposing floating offshore wind energy farms in two lease areas. One area, a 61,000-acre site, is located 30 miles off the coast of Coos Bay, while the other, spanning nearly 134,000 acres, is located 20 miles off the coast of Brookings. If fully developed, wind farms on the two sites could generate more than 3.1 gigawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 1 million homes, federal officials said.