By SOFIA APPOLONIOCapital News ServiceANNAPOLIS, Md. – Top state officials approved a permit Wednesday needed to begin an offshore windmill project in the Delmarva Peninsula, despite objections from Ocean City residents worried about the environmental impact on local wetlands. The application, proposed by Baltimore wind company US Wind, requested to expand a 353-foot long pier in West Ocean City used by local fishers. The permit is part of the company’s plan to build offshore wind turbines and bring renewable energy to Maryland. Supporters and opponents of the proposal spoke before the Board of Public Works for nearly two hours on Wednesday, some of them delivering passionate pleas. The board voted unanimously to approve. Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment Serena McIlwain argued in favor of the proposal, saying it passed department review. “We made our decision based solely on the size of the pier in linear feet, the impact to the waterway and sediments and other technical questions that we always ask for permits,” she said. “And [the proposal] met everything.” Multiple Eastern Shore residents, officials and community leaders expressed their opposition toward the potential negative economic, environmental and cultural impacts of the proposal. They said they felt their concerns for local businesses and fishers were not addressed thoroughly during the application process. Ocean City Mayor Richard Meehan said that despite offers of compensation, fishers – locally referred to as “watermen” – would prefer to retain access to the pier and continue their livelihood with fishing. “We believe it’s more important to our local area and the state of Maryland that our fishing can remain a vibrant part of our economy rather than being displaced for a foreign developer’s project,” he said. “Compensation will eliminate the fishing industry and will eliminate jobs,” he said. “Is that really the goal of the state of Maryland?” Comptroller Brooke Lierman, a member of the Board of Public Works, expressed her sympathy for concerned residents but stated that the decision on the wetlands license only concerns the existing pier. The permit is not to approve the operation of wind turbines or any future plans with offshore wind. “We are not permitted to look at what this is actually being used for,” Lierman said. “We are looking at what is actually happening regarding the physical structure. What this pier will be used for is not dispositive, and it’s not even something we take into account.”