< Back to front page Text size +

Cape Wind: The legal challenges

Posted by David Beard, Globe Staff  July 10, 2008 09:09 AM
  • E-mail
  • E-mail this article

    Invalid E-mail address
    Invalid E-mail address

    Sending your article

    Your article has been sent.

E-mail this article

Invalid email address
Invalid email address

Sending your article

Your article has been sent.

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

If the federal government gives the okay for the 130-turbine Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound later this year, one result is guaranteed: Lawsuits.


farmy.jpg
A wind farm in the North Sea


Opponents are dead set against the project being placed off Cape Cod in federal waters and have pledged to use every means possible to fight it.

In fact, they have been challenging incremental decisions all along, from filing a lawsuit trying to block a wind test tower more than five years ago to challenging a decision allowing transmission lines to be laid in state waters. Cape Wind has perservered in all the cases - included two recent ones.

In June, Superior Court Justice Robert J. Kane dismissed a case brought by the town of Barnstable challenging state environmental approval of the project. Then this week, the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife determined it was up to the federal government - not them - to rule if the wind farm would harm birds and other wildlife. The state's only stake in the matter is determining if wildlife would be harmed by the project's transmission line - the sole piece of the project in state waters.

And if you haven't had enough wind news, there is more.

The Minerals Management Service, the federal agency overseeing the project also recently finalized rules for offshore renewable energy: http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2008/press0708.htm

  • E-mail
  • E-mail this article

    Invalid E-mail address
    Invalid E-mail address

    Sending your article

    Your article has been sent.

About the green blog

Helping Boston live a greener, more environmentally friendly life.

Contributors

Beth Daley covers environmental issues for the Globe.

Gideon Gil is the Globe's Health/Science editor.

Erin Ailworth covers energy and the business of the environment for the Globe.

Christopher Reidy covers business for the Globe.

Glenn Yoder produces Boston.com's Lifestyle pages.

Eric Bauer is site architect of Boston.com.

Bennie DiNardo is the Boston Globe's deputy managing editor/multimedia.

Dara Olmsted is a local sustainability professional focusing on green living.

archives