To the editor:

There are generations of commercial fishermen in my family. I have more than 25 years of professional marine experience working as a crew member and captain on small passenger vessels, and I remain an active boater, diver and fisherman on Rhode Island’s waters.

Construction is underway to build thousands of huge wind turbines from New Jersey to Maine. From an average Joe’s perspective, this process feels extremely rushed, and there are dozens of unanswered questions. Getting legitimate answers is proving to be difficult – at times it feels like there is no information, and at others it seems like we are drowning in thousand-page reports full of jargon. I think every Rhode Islander should keep in mind that the fundamental priority of every offshore wind developer is profit. Whether a huge corporation like Orsted is developing renewable or fossil fuel energy, their primary obligations are not to Rhode Islanders, the fishing community, or the environment. They answer to shareholders.
Here are a few questions that should be considered.

1. Substations. The turbines produce DC power, which must be converted to AC. This is done with liquid-cooled transformers. This means seawater is pumped through the substations, heated, bleached, and returned to the ocean. Did we not learn from Brayton Point?

2. Pile driving. Offshore wind construction will require years of driving massive pilings into the seafloor for each turbine. It's like poking the side of a fish tank a thousand times a day. Is this in any way a factor in the spike in whale and dolphin fatalities? What effect will it have on other fish stocks?

3. Fishing grounds. Some of the turbines are being installed in some of the most fertile fishing grounds in Rhode Island, including the renowned fisheries at Coxes Ledge. Must we allow offshore wind to disrupt access to the grounds that are vital to fishermen? Is there no way to avoid placing turbines in such important fishing grounds?

4. Independent impact studies. Developers have filed impact studies completed by researchers in their employ. To ensure unbiased factual studies, shouldn’t the entities completing the studies be independent?

5. What will happen when turbines fail? One fact that cannot be disputed is that all machines fail, especially those that are soaked in salt water. Whether physically or economically, some of the turbines will fail. As the captain of a small passenger vessel, I once ran a trip in the Gulf of Mexico. We passed through an area with what looked like hundreds of oil rigs. It resembled a small city. Unfortunately there were dozens of abandoned rigs rotting into the sea. Apparently, it was cheaper for the oil companies to claim bankruptcy, reopen under a new name and move on than it was to responsibly decommission old rigs. Is this a possibility off our coast with the thousands of turbines and pilings?

Even if you don’t know a commercial fisherman, you probably know someone who makes a living servicing the industry. They need our support.

Joe Silva
Warren