ing the ocean floor in Maryland's
designated WEA that could eventu-
ally be home to as many as 40 tur-
bines off the coast of the resort.
WEA is being conducted by CB&I/-
Coastal Planning and Engineering
Inc., a private firm contracted by the
state to conduct the study. The proj-
ect comes with a $3.5 million price
tag, which is being funded out of the
state's Offshore Wind Development
fund. The $30 million fund was cre-
ated out of the merger between Ex-
elon and Constellation to provide re-
search and development money for
Maryland's offshore wind energy
project.
available technology, including side-
scan sonar, multi-beam bathymetry,
face imaging, to develop a high-res-
olution geophysical map of the sea
floor and sub-floor geology in desig-
nated WEA about 10 to 30 miles off
the coast of Ocean City. The infor-
mation collected will be critical to
the design of turbine foundations
and will be required by the federal
Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage-
ment (BOEM) prior to the approval
of any future construction and oper-
ation plan.
in advance of any development of
offshore wind energy off Ocean Ci-
ty's coast. BOEM will review and
evaluate any future construction
and operation plan for compliance
with the National Energy Environ-
mental Policy Act, the Magnuson-
Stevens Conservation and Manage-
ment Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act and all other applicable federal
laws prior to the development of a
future wind farm off the coast.
38), who represents Ocean City and
the Lower Shore. "They are going to
map and survey the ocean floor in
the wind energy area and take into
account everything from impacts on
birds and fish, winds, tides, ship-
wrecks, unexploded ordnance and
anything else that could impede the
development of the wind farm in the
area in the future."
ben Delgado and his team of ex-
perts in LiDAR technology from the
Joint Center of Earth Systems Tech-
nology (JCET) at UMBC. Under a
memorandum of understanding with
MEA, the UMBC experts will be
working with innovative remote
sensing technology that uses laser
beams to measure wind speed and
direction.
entists from the University of Mary-
land Eastern Shore (UMES), who
will be monitoring potential impacts
on marine life. Called Protected
Species Observers, the UMES stu-
dents were trained by CB&I/Coastal
Planning and Engineering to ensure
the protection of marine mammals
will be a part of the two-month initiative.
vast offshore wind farm got under-
way this week with the launch of a
research vessel carrying teams of
scientists that will spend the next
month or so mapping and surveying
the ocean floor in the designated
area for the project.
hand at the commercial harbor in
West Ocean City for the launch of
the "Scarlett Isabella," a 136-foot re-
search vessel that will spend the
next six weeks in an area about 10
to 30 miles off the coast of Ocean
City designated as the Maryland
Wind Energy Area (WEA). The ves-
sel will host teams of scientists