Former state official fined for testifying against wind farm while consulting for opponent

By Bina Venkataraman, Globe Correspondent

The state ethics commission found today that a former member of the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission violated the state's conflict of interest law by testifying before state and federal agencies about the environmental impact of the Cape Wind project while working as a paid consultant for the wind farm's leading opponent.

Mark Weissman, a member of the fisheries commission until this past August, was fined $2500. The maximum penalty could have been $4000, said David Giannotti of the state ethics commission.

In a written statement, Weissman called the issue a "misunderstanding" of state statutes and pointed out that he disclosed the activities in question to colleagues and some superiors.

On various occasions between 2002 and 2007, Weissman testified before federal and state agencies in his capacity as a state official that the proposal to erect 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound needed further environmental review. He also "voiced skepticism" about fisheries data used in federal environmental impact statements, according to the ethics commission's findings.

During the same period, Weissman received thousands of dollars in consulting fees from the central opponent to the Cape Wind project, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. Since 2003, the commission found, the Alliance paid Weissman approximately $48,000 for private consulting services, about $8,000 of which was related to the group's efforts to stop the Cape Wind project.

While Weissman disclosed this relationship to his fellow board members, the ethics commission penalized him for not disclosing it in writing to the governor, as the conflict of interest law requires. The ethics commission also found that he violated the law because he testified as a state official in proceedings related to the Cape Wind project while taking money from one of its opponents.

Audra Parker, executive director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, said Weissman's consulting work "expose[d] that a significant part of Horseshoe Shoal may need to be dredged to accommodate installation ships," and called the ethics commission's findings "a distraction" from environmental concerns raised by Cape Wind.

In testimony where he identified himself as a member of the marine fisheries commission, Weissman criticized a draft environmental review of Cape Wind issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers and expressed concern that the project would compromise marine resources.