Yesterday, on behalf of our clients the American Bird Conservancy and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (“Plaintiffs”), our firm filed a challenge to the Icebreaker Wind Project (“Icebreaker Project” or “Project”), the first-ever offshore wind energy facility proposed for construction in U.S. freshwaters. The precedent-setting Icebreaker Project, which is being funded in part by the Department of Energy (“DOE”) to the tune of $40 million, is slated for construction in the heart of the Central Lake Erie Basin Important Bird Area—a National Audubon Society-designated Global Important Bird Area—and threatens to destroy millions of birds and bats per year in this ecologically critical area. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against DOE and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“the Corps”), highlights numerous fatal flaws in those agencies’ environmental review of the Icebreaker Project, including, among others, DOE’s refusal to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act and consider reasonable alternatives that would reduce the devastation likely to flow from the Project’s construction and operation. In addition, the lawsuit challenges the Corps’ reliance on defective scientific data and an overly narrow range of alternatives in issuing a permit for the Project under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. If the Icebreaker Project is permitted to proceed, it will be the benchmark by which freshwater offshore wind energy projects are measured. For this reason, the superficial, result-oriented environmental analysis conducted by DOE and the Corps must not be permitted to justify this Project. A copy of the Complaint can be found here.