State historic ruling may add more delay to proposed Cape Wind project
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.
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Ridiculous - This has more to do with the select few people who have houses with views of the water funding anyone who can give them more ammunition to delay the project than with any ancient Indian burial ground, birds that supposedly aren't smart enough to avoid a 300ft tall building, fish that might somehow die because the windmills' footprints will take up less than 0.00000000000000000001% of the ocean floor, or fishermen who supposedly can't navigate around 50-100ft-wide, lit obstacles.
They're fishing for reasons and it's unfortunate that they're succeeding. Most Cape Codders don't have a view of the water at all, but these ones with money are using it to skewer public image as though all of Cape Cod doesn't want the benefit of moving away from that asthma-inducing plant in Sandwich.
It all comes full circle now doesn't it? White man profits at the expense of nature, while native american's get screwed. Glad we're all realizing the boondoggle that windpower is. GO WOMPANOAGS!
For the love of God! How much longer are these hypocritical pols and fat cats on the shore going to drag this on? Patrick AND Obama need to get a backbone and move this along if they are so-called earth friendly people. With the death of Ted, I thought a large stumbling block was gone thankfully. . . oh, how wrong I was. Just another example of how money trumps anything else in this country - and we wonder why our country is losing its edge/lead more and more every day.
Classic, why we can never move forward....
Turn-off the electricity to Cape Cod and the islands. That would be just what those fools deserve.
#5 "Turn off the electricity..." Guess what, all those nimbys probably have backup generators. And if they don't I will sell them one.
Governor Patrick deserves a huge groundswell of thanks for his support of renewable energy and Cape Wind. Rarely does a politician summarize a complicated issue in one single word: this decision is "ridiculous". Pure and simple.
This project should have been realized by now - it seems to be a No-Brainer but the No Brained politicians keep screwing it up!!!
I have a great deal of respect for Native American spirituality but this is absurd. They're hooking a ride on the NIMBY'S to gain political leverage. They should look to some of the tribes out West who have real respect for Mother Earth and are heavily into alternative energy. The presence of windmills on the distant horizon means less oil and coal consumed. In the long run this position will not be good for the welfare of the tribe!
"their culture greets the sunrise each day, sometimes from sacred sites on the shore of Nantucket Sound, and this ritual requires unobstructed views"
Does this mean that all private crafts and commercial fishing boats need to be banned from Nantucket Sound as well?
I live on the Cape and Nantucket Sound. I am not rich. We don't want your hideous windmills. Those transient traitors who all conveniently live by Cape Cod Bay and get paid by the wind industry should return to Michigan or New Jersey or wherever they came from and leave our beautiful home alone. May God bless the Wampanoags for having the courage to fight for their homeland and their sacred beliefs and customs. We will never end this fight. We will never allow our Sound to be hideously raped by you for the sake of your good feelings and profit.
Underwater burial sites flooded by climate change? There will be a lot more of them if people don't wake up and start embracing wind, solar and other zero carbon energy sources. Didn't the native Americans hunt many of the native animals like the wooly mammoth and ground into extinction when they came here ten thousand years ago? Maybe they want global warming to flood more of the earth.
I think Gov. Patrick may have just identified a state agency that wastes whatever money it receives. Time to send the budget of the "State Historic Preservation Officer" to the bottom of Nantucket Sound.
What needs to stop right now is this pandering to "tribes" of folks who demand special rights.
Give them one year to choose to be actual citizens or whatever they next want to call themselves.
If they do not want to be citizens with the same rights as all others then NO MORE welfare. No more casinos for a select few.
No disrespect for the Wampanoags- but that Bay is common property in our society- all seafarers use it to navigate and I do not believe the Wampanoags should have exclusive rights as to its use. There is an overwhelming need for alternative energies and all the rich residents of the island should be forced to swallow their sense of self-entitlement.
destroy the sun greetings??? I'm pretty sure the sun will continue to rise, beautifullly i might add, behind the windmills. NIMBYism at it's worst. Won't massive see level rises destroy the sun greeting and ancent burials as well? We need to get real about alternative energy before china cleans our clocks in the next great global industry
This is beyond ridiculous. The Wampanoags stand to lose a hell of alot more than an unobstructed view of the horizon if they cannot abide the majestic wind turbines that could validate their very existance. They should be honored that such wonderful machines would greet the sun along with them. Clearly, their concern has nothing to do with their claims to ancestral lands, as their ancestors would probably also welcome such machines in their midst.
As a historic preservationist and environmentalist, I can see both sides of this coin. The goal here is to ensure that appropriate studies have been done in the area of impact. I agree requiring a viewshed study or such similar thing would be pretty dumb. However, there MAY be archaeological finds in the area - shipwrecks, etc. Might as well ensure that work has been done and done correctly. However, much of this work has been done and I don't believe it will slow up this process much more than the other agencies have. I think we let our green focus get in the way of our history. We must balance the two. (Speaking as someone who works in affordable housing, building green buildings, on Nantucket.)
Yes, many people live on Cape Cod and the Islands because they love natural places with wide open, unindustialized views. I moved here to save energy by reducing my commute. I have solar panels and try hard to minimize my impact. Now I am being told I have to help subsidize a huge energy industrial scale energy project through higher electricity costs (to the tune of over a billion dollars) in the middle of Nantucket Sound so the developer is guaranteed not to lose money.
The reality is that without an energy policy that mandates reduction in fossil fuel use with alternatie energy production this project will just ruin another natural place in the name of inctreased energy production without actually reducing fossil fuel use. Why can't we have an energy policy that allows us to save what we love about what we love? Please help keep natural places natural.
The wind turbines don't belong there, bottom line. The cultural insensitivity of the rabid, liberal "environmentalists" is staggering to me. Literally, wind in Nantucket Sound over any dead bodies....
It should be noted that the Mashpee Wampanoag are trying to build a mega casino that will block a lot more sun for the people who live nearby not to mention ruin the night sky. It will also draw massive amounts of power from plants that are mostly using dirty non-renewable sources. The Aquinnah have plans to build a wind farm ON tribal land. Unless they're planning to build invisible windmills, I expect they will block the sunrise to some level.
Pure hypocrisy.
They say "follow the money". It will be interesting to see what is given to the destitute Mashpee Wampanoag by the deep-pocketed NIMBY's who sip their martinis as they watch Biff and Buffy play croquet on their impeccably manicured grounds.
The very spirit of Native American culture is about reverence and treading lightly on the earth.
The petroleum paradigm spills blood of two legged and four legged and finned and all in between. Native people know this and I can only concur that our precious tribes are being leveraged for a white man's political agenda, same as always. Same as it ever was.
For those of you not paying attention, the nuclear lobby in this country, at the highest levels, is the strongest it has been in 30 years. This bickering over water view from Hyannisport is costing us all precious time, and paving the way for a nuclear penetration in the energy markets. Forget the view when you have to wear a lead suit.
My family settled in Craigville in the late 1800's. I prefer twirling blades over gobbling potassium iodide and living in the cellar for 10 years while the cloud blows over. Anyone talk to the Chernobyl community lately? Google it. Generation later: birth defects, cancer, horrible suffering. Nuclear does not go away, ever. Oil Kills. The wind is free. All Native people know this.
The majority of Mass residents approve of the wind farm - for those who don't want their views obscured, get used to it or head elsewhere. In order to lessen our dependency on oil and help clean our environment there will be tough decisions that will not sit well with all people. Not in my backyard needs to balance with what is smart and for the greater good of our country. Build the wind farm already, Ted is gone and can't bury you anymore for backing the thing! The wind farm is supported by both liberals and conservatives throughout Massachusetts.
Some people believe gambling is not condoned by God. Therefore no Native American tribal casinos should be built, as that would offend the religious beliefs of some citizens.
I feel bad for the wompanoags because it's there peaceful ground,so the windmil and enviermentilist have NO right to take there land away!!!
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