Who’s advising the BRSA in their quest for an industrial wind turbine?

From the very start it seemed the BRSA’s plans for their Industrial Wind Turbine were questionable. At the time they applied for and received their CAFRA permit and also federal stimulus money, they didn’t own enough land to build and run it. So much for being “shovel ready.”  They eventually acquired the additional half acre they needed on Conaskonk Point through an Eminent Domain taking. However, the taking is controversial as many believe the industrial intrusion into Conaskonk Point violates the Federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act. According to that law, you can’t spend federal dollars on development of any kind on Conaskonk Point beyond the BRSA boundary. A delegation of Union Beach area folks met with Congressman Pallone a while back, and he told them that only an act of the US Congress could grant the BRSA the right to use that land. I imagine he should know, he wrote the section of the law covering Conaskonk.

The BRSA may not have read their CAFRA permit carefully. Paragraph 6 under Terms & Conditions reads, “This permit does not waive the obtaining of Federal or other State or local government consent when necessary. This permit is not valid and no work shall be undertaken until such time as all other required approvals and permits have been obtained.” Well, Union Beach as the local government certainly has a pony in this race, but the BRSA believed otherwise. That was a huge mistake on their part. The commissioners at the BRSA voted to sue Union Beach after the UB Planning Board denied them the variance they sought. Did they think that the borough would just cave and not defend our town in court?  I guess so.

Now that the BRSA has spent well over two million dollars constructing a pedestal and trucking in and erecting a rather large crane before they have a clear legal right to do so (and that day may never come), I have to wonder who’s been giving them legal and strategic guidance. They do have an attorney, but they also hired a lobbyist/PR person back when the project started. He is now simply called a “consultant” for legal reasons and still works for them. Plus, the turbine owner and construction company, Conti,  is also in the business of building wind farms out in the Midwest. They may well be the brains behind the sewage plant on this one as they have experience in the industrial wind business. Whoever it is, I’m glad they’ve made the mistakes they’ve made. It means that Union Beach may not have to put up with a 386-foot noisy industrial monstrosity with blades each the size of a cell tower. Let’s hope the good guys win this one and we never see the turbine.

By the way, should you see the crane from Union Beach, Keansburg, the Keyport waterfront, Cliffwood Beach, Laurence Harbor or wherever, look up. The wind turbine would be over twice the height of the crane.