Federal report favorable on wind farm
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January 14, 2008 12:21 PM
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
A proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound would have little lasting impact on wildlife, navigation and tourism, a long-awaited review by the federal government concludes.
The draft environmental review by the Minerals Management Service, the lead federal permitting agency for the project, is the main remaining hurdle the wind farm developer has to overcome to build the nation’s first offshore wind park.
"Most of the impacts are minor or negligible," Rodney Cluck, the project manager of the wind farm for the Minerals Management Service, said in a telephone interview this morning. While some effects, such as those upon sea ducks that could be displaced, were declared "moderate" in the nearly 2,000 page draft environmental impact statement, Cluck said "we feel we can mitigate most of those."
Environmentalists immediately celebrated, saying the draft review concludes what many of them have consistently said in the seven years since the wind farm was first proposed by Cape Wind Associates: Its environmental benefits -- clean energy that can meet the equivalent of three-quarters of Cape Cod's power needs -- will far outweigh any detriments.
Cape Wind Associates will comment on the report at an afternoon news conference, and a spokeswoman for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the lead opposition group to the project, said it would comment this afternoon as well, after reading the document.
Many of the Alliance's key claims that the wind project would threaten boat navigation, fish, birds and tourism were not sustained by the federal review. The agency looked at the entire impact of the project, from its construction to future decommissioning.
"They have done an adequate and thorough job of reviewing the potential environmental impacts with regard to avian life," said Jack Clarke, director of public policy & government relations for Massachusetts Audubon. His group last year called for more study of the impact on birds and Clarke said the federal agency’s report appears to satisfy those concerns.
The saga of the wind farm -- which has weathered multiple political efforts to kill it -- is far from over, however. The Minerals Management Service will allow public comment on the draft report through March 20 and hold a series of public hearings that month. A final environmental review is not expected until November. Then, the agency will determine lease payments Cape Wind would have to pay for use of submerged public lands, and make a final decision whether to approve or reject the project.
Cape Wind also still has to receive more than half a dozen state and local permits. The Cape Cod Commission, a regulatory agency, recently rejected a request to run two transmission lines from the project to the regional power grid in Yarmouth. Cape Wind subsequently asked the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board to overrule that decision and consolidate seven other local and state permits into one decision. The Siting Board will hold hearings on the Cape Wind's proposal in April.
It is also expected that opponents would file lawsuits seeking to stop the project should it win final approval.
Email*Print* Text size – +
January 14, 2008 12:21 PM
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
A proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound would have little lasting impact on wildlife, navigation and tourism, a long-awaited review by the federal government concludes.
The draft environmental review by the Minerals Management Service, the lead federal permitting agency for the project, is the main remaining hurdle the wind farm developer has to overcome to build the nation’s first offshore wind park.
"Most of the impacts are minor or negligible," Rodney Cluck, the project manager of the wind farm for the Minerals Management Service, said in a telephone interview this morning. While some effects, such as those upon sea ducks that could be displaced, were declared "moderate" in the nearly 2,000 page draft environmental impact statement, Cluck said "we feel we can mitigate most of those."
Environmentalists immediately celebrated, saying the draft review concludes what many of them have consistently said in the seven years since the wind farm was first proposed by Cape Wind Associates: Its environmental benefits -- clean energy that can meet the equivalent of three-quarters of Cape Cod's power needs -- will far outweigh any detriments.
Cape Wind Associates will comment on the report at an afternoon news conference, and a spokeswoman for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the lead opposition group to the project, said it would comment this afternoon as well, after reading the document.
Many of the Alliance's key claims that the wind project would threaten boat navigation, fish, birds and tourism were not sustained by the federal review. The agency looked at the entire impact of the project, from its construction to future decommissioning.
"They have done an adequate and thorough job of reviewing the potential environmental impacts with regard to avian life," said Jack Clarke, director of public policy & government relations for Massachusetts Audubon. His group last year called for more study of the impact on birds and Clarke said the federal agency’s report appears to satisfy those concerns.
The saga of the wind farm -- which has weathered multiple political efforts to kill it -- is far from over, however. The Minerals Management Service will allow public comment on the draft report through March 20 and hold a series of public hearings that month. A final environmental review is not expected until November. Then, the agency will determine lease payments Cape Wind would have to pay for use of submerged public lands, and make a final decision whether to approve or reject the project.
Cape Wind also still has to receive more than half a dozen state and local permits. The Cape Cod Commission, a regulatory agency, recently rejected a request to run two transmission lines from the project to the regional power grid in Yarmouth. Cape Wind subsequently asked the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board to overrule that decision and consolidate seven other local and state permits into one decision. The Siting Board will hold hearings on the Cape Wind's proposal in April.
It is also expected that opponents would file lawsuits seeking to stop the project should it win final approval.
