VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Residents in the Croatan neighborhood of Virginia Beach are annoyed.
Dominion Energy recently started the on-land portion of their Offshore Wind Turbine Project. The company plans on building 176 turbines about 20 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.
When fully constructed in 2026, the "Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project" will provide clean and renewable energy to their grid, cutting down on millions of tons of carbon emissions.
“We come ashore at State Military Reservation, it goes underground through SMR, through Naval Station Oceana, and once we get past Oceana it transitions to overhead," said Jeremy Slayton, a spokesperson with Dominion.
To achieve this goal, the company needs to drill underground lines on land, which will lead out to the Atlantic Ocean.
However, neighbors say this construction is becoming a nuisance.
“Essentially they’ve created an industrial complex next to a residential community," Patrick McClaughlin, who lives just blocks away from the site, said.
It's not just loud noise the residents fear, but the vibrations from the drilling, which they say is 24/7.
“I physically felt the bed moving like there was an earthquake, and I thought is there an earthquake am I losing my mind?" Deb Higgans, another resident, said.
Some are even seeing new cracks appear in their walls, which they don't think is a coincidence.
“I’ve just started talking to other neighbors here and probably half of the neighbors I’ve talked to here are seeing new cracks in their houses. It’s making me wonder are we gonna have foundation issues from this? What are the long-term ramifications?” neighbor John Knight said.
Many residents told WTKR they were not expecting the construction from this project to be such a burden when Dominion started.
Others say they didn't even know there was a project going on until they heard it, literally.
“In the middle of the night, I felt a big shake, and a mirror in my bathroom splintered into 100 pieces," Knight said.
Slayton said the company is permitted for both daytime and nighttime work.
He also said they are monitoring the vibrations to make sure they stay within normal levels. They just got permission to install a second monitoring device.
“So far our monitoring has not identified any unusual levels in our work. But we recognize that our neighbors may hear and feel some of our activity," he said.
Slayton said Dominion had several community open houses and meetings, met individually with neighbors, and held meetings with civic organizations all before this construction took place.
However, if residents have concerns, then he said Dominion Energy representatives are on hand to come down to the neighborhood and talk to them about the construction.
“They can meet them at their house, or they can meet as part of the civic organization to talk them through the construction process," he said.
But the neighbors who talked to WTKR on Sunday said right now, all they've had are phone calls and would love it if a representative came down to talk with them about it.
“I appreciate that the project is huge, it’s been approved and it’s started. I just feel like we should’ve been made aware of what’s going on," said resident Julie Brown.
The onshore portion of the project in this area is expected to be complete later in the year.
If residents would like a representative to come to their home, they can call 844-319-2065 or email info@coastalvawind.com.
