Judge denies preliminary injunction seeking to stop construction of offshore wind project

A federal judge has denied a preliminary injunction seeking to stop the construction of a wind farm in Virginia. 

The Heartland Institute, the Committee for Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and the National Legal and Policy Center, filed a lawsuit in March against the Department of the Interior, arguing that the federal agencies permitting Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project had not done an analysis of the cumulative impact of all the offshore wind projects being developed along the East Coasts. These developments, the lawsuit claims, are along the migratory routes of the endangered North Atlantic Right whales, and this will harm the animals. 

The groups also filed a preliminary injunction, hoping to stop the project construction while the court considers the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan denied the request this week, saying that plaintiffs hadn’t demonstrated that allowing the project to move forward while the case would cause them to suffer irreparable harm. AliKhan said the plaintiffs had established a substantial likelihood of standing, which means the groups have a right to have the court rule upon the merits of the claims for which they seek judicial relief.

Terry Johnson, a Virginia attorney who serves on the board of advisors for the CFACT, told Just The News that the ruling wasn’t unexpected, but they are pleased that AliKhan ruled in their favor on standing. He said they would be appealing the ruling, however.

“We believe there's a clear-cut violation of the case law regarding our procedural motion here, and we're looking forward to getting that reversed,” Johnson said.