Cape Wind project clears state hurdle
A plan to build the nation's first offshore wind farm cleared a key hurdle today, winning state approval of an environmental report submitted by the project's developers.
Cape Wind Associates hope to build 130 windmills in federal waters in Nantucket Sound. The turbines would up to 440 feet above sea level when the tallest blade is pointing straight up.
The project still needs to clear federal regulatory hurdles before moving forward.
Cape Wind Associates has touted its project as a safe, clean way to create renewable energy, a safer environment and new jobs.
But opponents fear the environmental and economic effects on Cape Cod's tourist and fishing industries. They warn the turbines would pose navigational and radar hazards. They also say the turbines could hurt the views of some multimillion-dollar oceanfront homes.
Ian Bowles, the state's secretary of energy and environmental affairs, approved the environmental report in a ruling announced Friday. He said it "adequately and properly complies" with state environmental laws.
The project can now advance to the state permitting process.
Cape Wind Associates have produced computer simulations to counter criticism that the project will be an eyesore on the pristine Cape Cod coast.
But critics said that because of the added height, the turbines can be seen more clearly from Edgartown and Oak Bluffs.
In December, the state's highest court upheld a decision permitting construction of needed transmission lines to bring electricity from the project to shore. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a May 2005 decision by the state Energy Facilities Siting Board.
Developers need to build two 115-kilovolt lines to transmit electricity generated by the turbines. The lines would run under the sea floor and pass beneath state waters before reaching shore at Yarmouth and continuing underground to a Barnstable switching station.
The Cape Wind project has also been a contentious political issue.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose family's Hyannis Port compound would have a clear view of the farm, opposes it while Gov. Deval Patrick, who says the state needs to invest in new energy technology, supports it.
The Minerals Management Service, the federal agency that will decide the farm's fate, is expected to release a draft report on the project's environmental impact this year. After public comment, the agency will make a final decision in early 2008. (AP)
