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State historic ruling may add more delay to proposed Cape Wind project

Print | Comments () Posted by Bennie DiNardo November 5, 2009 07:03 PM

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By Beth Daley
GLOBE STAFF

Massachusetts' top historic preservation officer has dealt a setback to the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, ruling today that the body of water is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places because of its cultural significance for two Native American tribes.
In a letter released late in the afternoon, State Historic Preservation Officer Brona Simon said she believes that Nantucket Sound is so culturally important to two Wampanoag tribes, it should be listed on the National Register as a traditional cultural property. Her decision conflicts with an earlier conclusion by the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency that led the environmental review of the Cape Wind project.

Now, the head of the National Register will have to determine if the property is eligible to be listed, a process that could ultimately delay the project's approval by up to a year, federal and state officials have said.

A listing would not necessarily stop the project, but would make permitting much more cumbersome. If the National Register head determines that the 560-square mile sound is eligible, Cape Wind would then have to go through a lengthy review process to actually be listed. The project has already undergone eight years of government reviews and a final federal decision on the 130 wind turbines was expected this year.

Simon’s letter states that her office found "considerable archaeological, historical and ethnographic information that substantiates Nantucket Sound is historically significant." A 21-page explanation followed her short letter.

Gov. Patrick criticized the decision released in a statement tonight.

"I respect the Wampanoags, but this decision is ridiculous," Patrick said. "We are going to have to get serious about alternative energy installations where they make sense, and every environmental and regulatory review has concluded that Cape Wind makes sense."

The two Massachusetts tribes have claimed for five years that the turbines in Nantucket Sound would disturb their spiritual sun greetings and submerged ancestral burying grounds. That's in part because during the last ice age, so much of the world's water was locked in glaciers, New England's coast extended more than 75 miles farther from today's shore. Native Americans likely hunted and lived on that exposed land, the tribes say.

While archaeological excavations in Nantucket Sound have found evidence of a submerged forest six feet under the mud, there have been no signs of Native American camps.
A Wampanoag officer said that Simon's decision underscored the validity of the tribes' claim and that she hoped it would lead to long-term protection of Nantucket Sound.

“It’s heartening. What this is about is where this is being placed -- take it out our (view)," said Bettina Washington, tribal historic preservation officer for the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe on Martha's Vineyard. "We are not against wind power."

She and other tribal representatives say their culture greets the sunrise each day, sometimes from sacred sites on the shore of Nantucket Sound, and this ritual requires unobstructed views.
"This has been our stance since 2004 -- that placing in Nantucket Sound would destroy (the Sound) for our purposes. It needs to go in deeper water."

Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Cape Wind, last night called Simon's letter a "flawed decision." The developer contends that the Native Americans' claims are unfounded.

Supporters of the wind farm said the tribes' concerns are a delaying tactic, in part
because federally designated traditional properties tend to be defined areas, such as a boundary surrounding a ceremonial site -- not an enormous body of water. The supporters say the Native American claims -- aided recently by publicity efforts by Cape Wind's main opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound -- have already delayed the project more than six months.

Federal regulations require that permitting agencies take into account the effect a project could have on historic properties. If the impact is considered "adverse", alternatives or modifications to the project can be considered -- but are not required, according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent federal agency. An adverse finding rarely kills projects, the advisory council said.

A spokeswoman for Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound said the group was pleased by today's ruling. "The Massachusetts Historical Commission has legitimized the claim of the tribes," said Audra Parker.