NO HARM FROM CAPE WIND: INTERIOR DEPT.

It is hard to overestimate the importance of this environmental impact finding. Some of the biggest private money in Cape Cod, including Kennedy family wealth, has resisted the Cape Wind installation, claiming it harmed the environment. The U.S. government’s lead permitting agency says it doesn’t.

Interior Department Finds No Major Impact from Cape Wind Project
January 16, 2008 (U.S. Department of Energy)
and
Cape Wind Takes Major Step Forward
January 14, 2008 (Cape Wind.org)

WHO
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Cape Wind (Jim Gordon, President)

Cape Wind would go where no U.S. turbine has gone before. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
MMS’ draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the controversial Cape Wind Energy Project finds no major environmental impacts.

WHEN
- The original filing for a permit was in November 2001.
- MMS filed its findings with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) January 11. MMS published its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register January 18 and will accept written comments through March 20. It will hold public hearings on DEIS 4 places in Massachusetts from March 10-13.
- With final permission to proceed, the builder will begin installation in 2009 and operate in 2010.

click to enlarge

WHERE
Cape Wind is proposed for Horseshoe Shoal, a shallow 5 miles off Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound.

WHY
- Cape Wind would have a 468 megawatt capacity.
- The DEIS called most impacts "negligible" or "minor." A few are "moderate," including the visual impacts the wealthy local residents so objected to. The DEIS makes recommendations for minimizing the impacts. For visual “harm,” it is suggested the builders eliminate daytime lighting on turbines and cut down to 57 night warning lights.
- The DEIS found Horseshoe Shoal preferable to alternative sites and added that the wind project is a better environmental choice than a fossil-fuel power plant.

click to enlarge

QUOTES
- Gordon, Cape Wind: “With news of $100 / barrel oil, urgent calls from scientists to take action on climate change and with the public’s desire for greater energy independence and new jobs, this report couldn’t come at a more important moment…The release of this report will move Cape Wind forward and help establish Massachusetts as a world leader in offshore renewable energy…”
- Ian Bowles, Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: “Overall, the project represents a balanced and thoughtful commitment to action that will contribute to the long-term preservation and enhancement of our environment.”