{"id":321907,"date":"2024-04-24T16:11:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T14:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=321907"},"modified":"2024-04-24T16:11:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T14:11:59","slug":"dominions-pile-driving-boat-violates-the-marine-mammal-protection-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=321907","title":{"rendered":"Dominion\u2019s pile driving boat violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By David Wojick<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The boat is the Orion, and it is BIG, about 710\u2032 long, with a 5,000-ton crane capacity and 8 powerful Thrusters for dynamic positioning. Its coming job is to place and drive the 178 enormous monopiles in Dominion Energy\u2019s huge offshore wind facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out the Orion has a serious noise problem. Its thrusters are so loud they exceed the harassment threshold established by NOAA under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Harassment of marine mammals is illegal unless authorized by NOAA\u2019s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and no such authorization exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominion applied for and received NMFS authorization to harass almost 80,000 marine mammals while constructing its facility. But that was for the noise of pile driving and sonar surveys. The noise from dynamic positioning was not included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It, therefore, appears that the Orion cannot set and drive piles until the necessary authorization has been applied for and issued. This could take some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dynamic positioning means the boat can be held motionless despite significant wind, waves, and current acting to move it. This is essential because if the boat moved while driving a pile, that pile would not be vertical, and a leaning pile is useless. The piles each weigh about 1,500 tons with a diameter of 28 feet, so holding them perfectly steady is a feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the 8 thrusters work like tugboats as each is a separate, powerful propulsion device. Orion is a DP3 boat, meaning it has the most elaborate dynamic positioning system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The harassment level noise from the Orion was measured by marine acoustics expert Robert Rand while the boat was working on the Vineyard Wind facility. His recently released report is here: https:\/\/randacoustics.com\/papers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rand\u2019s key findings are potentially very important. This from his report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe continuous noise generated by vessel propulsion and dynamic positioning (DP) thrusters significantly surpassed the federal threshold for behavioral harassment, with noise levels exceeding 120 dB out to over 6 kilometers. Given federal agencies\u2019 concerns over the compound effects of continuous and impulse noise, this frequently overlooked issue in regulatory assessments constitutes a definitive risk of behavioral harassment to marine mammals, underscoring the need to reevaluate current protective measures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rand also found that the Orion\u2019s pile driving was significantly louder than that assumed in NMFS authorizations. Here is his Conclusion, which may apply to all pile-driving boats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis investigation discovered a substantial underestimation of both impulsive and continuous noise levels by current regulatory standards, suggesting that the actual exposure to harmful noise levels from pile driving for marine mammals like the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale is substantially greater than NMFS acknowledges in its existing protective measures. This indicates an urgent need to review and possibly revise NMFS monitoring protocols and mitigation strategies for pile driving to ensure adequate protection for marine mammals against both impulse and continuous underwater noise pollution. The findings detailed in this report underscore the need for immediate action<\/strong>due to the substantial underestimations uncovered by this independent investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make things even more complex, the Orion now has new vibratory pile driving technology onboard, which was not included in Dominion\u2019s application for harassment authorization. The use of this technology may not be authorized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All told, this is a regulatory mess. The harassment-level thruster noise has not been authorized. The pile-driving noise exceeds that assumed for authorization, and new pile-driving technology was not included in the authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surely, the Orion cannot be allowed to operate under these conditions, as they would violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The boat is the Orion, and it is BIG, about 710\u2032 long, with a 5,000-ton crane capacity and 8 powerful Thrusters for dynamic positioning. Its coming job is to place and drive the 178 enormous monopiles in Dominion Energy\u2019s huge offshore wind facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":321911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819776,691828325,691828326,691828324,691828323],"class_list":{"0":"post-321907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-dominion-energy","9":"tag-marine-mammal-protection-act","10":"tag-noise-problem","11":"tag-offshore-wind-facility","12":"tag-the-orion","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0dominion-energy.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1lK3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":256010,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256010","url_meta":{"origin":321907,"position":0},"title":"RELEASE: Save the whales coalition warns NOAA \u2014 Don\u2019t allow more harassment from wind power","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Dominion Energy recently submitted a \u201cRequest for Rulemaking and Letter of Authorization for Taking of Marine Mammals\u201d as dead whales have been increasingly washing ashore along the Atlantic Coast. 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The Trump administration stopped it about a month ago but has now unstopped it, supposedly after the President made an informal deal with Governor Hochul to lift New York\u2019s ban on new gas pipelines\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Empire Wind\"","block_context":{"text":"Empire Wind","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=empire-wind"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ChatGPT-Image-2.-Mai-2025-12_52_05.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ChatGPT-Image-2.-Mai-2025-12_52_05.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ChatGPT-Image-2.-Mai-2025-12_52_05.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ChatGPT-Image-2.-Mai-2025-12_52_05.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":332091,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=332091","url_meta":{"origin":321907,"position":4},"title":"Licenced to Kill: Wind Industry\u2019s Atlantic Whale Slaughter Gets New Govt.\u00a0Greenlight","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/06\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The wind industry\u2019s licence to kill whales and other marine mammals is the perfect example of institutional corruption. 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When I first saw it, I thought there must be some mistake, but it has appeared in a lot of press reports.","rel":"","context":"In \"Dominion Energy\"","block_context":{"text":"Dominion Energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=dominion-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0humpback-whale-vanessa-mignon.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0humpback-whale-vanessa-mignon.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0humpback-whale-vanessa-mignon.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0humpback-whale-vanessa-mignon.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0humpback-whale-vanessa-mignon.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=321907"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321912,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321907\/revisions\/321912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/321911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=321907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=321907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=321907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}