SLO County fishing groups sue Coastal Commission to block offshore wind site surveys
Two San Luis Obispo County fishing groups are worried that surveys related to offshore wind development will harm the commercial industry — and they want the court to block those surveys.
The Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization and the Port San Luis Commercial Fisherman Association filed a petition on Sept. 6 to block a coastal development permit that would allow Atlas Wind to conduct surveys in state waters.
The petition alleged that the California Coastal Commission violated state regulations by ignoring the concerns of the fishers during the hearing when the permit was approved. Additionally, the fishing groups argued that the commission was biased toward Atlas Wind — evidenced by the thumbs up a commission staff member flashed at the audience after the permit was approved, the petition said.
The petition urged the court to revoke the permit and require the commission to add mitigation measures for commercial fishing before approving it again.
The California Coastal Commission and Atlas Wind declined to comment on the lawsuit.
As of Wednesday morning, Atlas Wind had not yet started the nearshore site surveys.
“Atlas Wind is still in the early planning stages and is determining the appropriate path forward for all development activities, including additional survey efforts,” a company spokesperson said in a prepared statement.
Commission grants permit, staff member flashes a thumbs up
On July 12, the California Coastal Commission approved a coastal development permit for Atlas Wind to take sediment samples and use sound surveys to learn more about the seafloor in state waters near the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area.
Atlas Wind, owned by the global energy company Equinor, will use that data to decide where to lay subsea cables that carry electricity to land. The permit expires in two years.
The fishing groups worried that the surveys would harm fish, disrupt marine habitat and interfere with the commercial industry. They submitted studies and reports about the dangers of acoustic surveys to the commission ahead of the meeting — urging the commissioners to deny the coastal development permit.
However, comments and evidence submitted by the fishers “were not considered, rebutted, and in most cases, never discussed” by the staff report or presentation, the complaint said.
Walter said this is a violation of California regulations that require the commission to consider “significant issues” and “any relevant evidence” related to an item it votes on.
After the staff presentation, Walter attempted to present the fishers’ concerns during public comment over Zoom. When he activated his microphone to speak, however, his voice echoed and the commission couldn’t understand him — preventing him from making his comments.
Staff then told the commissioners that they didn’t need to hear Walter’s comments because he already submitted materials before the meeting. The complaint said this “prejudiced the fair hearing.”
“Petitioners were entitled to representation and presentation by their attorney during the public hearing process and in rebuttal to the presentations (made by) Equinor’s representatives and the Coastal Commission staff,” the complaint said.
The commission voted 10-1 to grant the permit to Atlas Wind.
The commission’s deputy director Cassidy Teufel then turned around and flashed a thumbs-up at the audience. The complaint alleged that he aimed the thumbs up at Equinor staff.
“At the very least, such a gesture gave and conveyed the appearance of bias and prejudice in favor of Equinor, undermining the public confidence in the fairness, constitutionality and substantive merit of the approval,” the petition said.
Additionally, the petition alleged that the commission did not present enough evidence that the surveys would not harm marine life or commercial fishing.
“The hearing was unfair” and biased in Equinor’s favor, the petition said.
A case management conference was scheduled for Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. in Department 4 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
