US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study the potential negative impacts of offshore wind farms, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to Bloomberg’s report , HHS tasked the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in late summer with preparing research on how offshore wind projects could affect fishing businesses and related activities. Kennedy has met with NIOSH director John Howard about the assignment and identified experts for the agency to consult, the sources said.
The US Surgeon General’s office is also involved, and HHS leaders, before the federal government shutdown, had aimed to complete the work within a few months. One of the areas under review is the electromagnetic frequency generated by offshore wind subsea cables, according to one of the people cited by Bloomberg.
The directive marks another step in the administration’s wider review of offshore wind development. As reported by offshoreWIND.biz in September, the White House had sought to involve HHS in a broader initiative to revise offshore wind permits.
President Donald Trump has ordered multiple federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Energy, Defense and Commerce, to participate in a coordinated “inter-departmental coalition” assessing the sector. During an August cabinet meeting, Kennedy said agencies were “working together on this issue,” referencing concerns about potential effects on fish and whale populations.
The White House campaign has already delayed or halted several major projects. Construction of Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island, about 80 per cent complete at the time, was ordered to stop in August over what the administration called national-security concerns. A federal judge later allowed work to resume.
Earlier, the Interior Department froze Equinor’s Empire Wind development off New York before reinstating it following an agreement between Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and New York Governor Kathy Hochul that also advanced a natural gas pipeline project.
Other East Coast projects remain under review, including US Wind’s 1.7 GW offshore wind farm planned to be built in the federal waters off Maryland, for which the Trump administration has asked a federal court to remand and/or vacate the approval of its Construction and Operation Plan (COP).
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