Cape Wind showdown slated for tonight

By Globe Staff

Some say it will reap clean energy from the wind. Others say it will be an eyesore. The two sides will likely clash tonight in a hearing on a proposal for a wind farm in Nantucket Sound.

The federal Minerals Management Service is seeking comments on its draft environmental impact report for the Cape Wind proposal to build 130 turbines in the sound.

The hearing begins tonight at 6 at the Mattacheese Middle School in West Yarmouth. It's the first in a series this week; other hearings are scheduled later on Nantucket, on Martha's Vineyard, and in Boston.

"We're looking for whatever comments that the public and interested parties have to say about our environmental review of the Cape Wind project," said Gary Strasburg, a Minerals Management Service spokesman.

Strasburg said the agency's draft report essentially found that "there wasn't any major impediment to proceeding" with the project. The agency expects to issue a final ruling early next year.

The agency has traditionally been in charge of reviewing the impact of offshore oil and gas projects. A recent federal law also put it in charge of reviewing offshore alternative energy projects.

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