Cape Wind rejection recommended
WASHINGTON - A federal agency on historic preservation has recommended that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reject a proposed massive wind energy project in Nantucket Sound - an area that is sacred to the Wampanoag nations and qualifies for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
On April 2, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation issued a seven-page report of its findings and recommendation to deny permits to Cape Wind Associates to construct a wind energy plant consisting of 130 wind turbine generators that would tower 440 feet above water level in a 24-square-mile area on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, which lies between Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The proposal includes plans for a 66.5-mile buried submarine transmission cable system, a centrally located electric service platform and two 115-kilovolt lines totaling 25 miles connecting to the mainland power grid.
"The historical properties affected by the project are significant and closely interrelated," ACHP wrote. "The project will adversely affect 34 historic properties, including 16 historic districts and 12 individually significant historic properties on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island, and six properties of religious and cultural significance to tribes, including Nantucket Sound itself. These districts and standing structures reflect the broad array of properties that represent the rich and unique architectural, social and cultural history of Cape Cod and the island."
The project would also destroy, damage and alter part of the seabed of Nantucket Sound, potentially destroying archeological resources.
"The ACHP recommends that the secretary not approve the project," the report says.
The report stressed that the development of renewable energy projects "is not inherently incompatible with protection of historic resources so long as full consideration is given to historic properties early in the identification of potential locations." It suggests that the Cape Wind project could be relocated to an alternative site "in the vicinity of the current project area."
Salazar had turned the Cape Wind proposal over to ACHP for comments March 1 after the developer failed to convince the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag nations, on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, respectively, to abandon their opposition to the project. The nations rejected a $1 million incentive offer from Cape Wind to give up their opposition.
Nantucket Sound is a sacred area to the Wampanoag nations - the People of the First Light. The wind energy plant would obscure their view of the rising sun in ceremony, and the Sound, which was once dry land, is where their ancestors lived and were buried.
The Wampanoag leaders welcomed the ACHP recommendation.
"We're extremely gratified that the council has heard our voice and agrees that Nantucket Sound is an inappropriate location for Cape Wind. We hope that Secretary Salazar will make the right decision and deny the project in its present location. As we've said all along, we're not opposed to wind energy or the specific project, but to the location, and we stand ready to work with all of the agencies on determining an appropriate site for Cape Wind," Aquinnah Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais said.
"With today's recommendation by the ACHP, every historic preservation agency at both the state and federal level has come to the same conclusion - that Nantucket Sound is a place of deep historical, spiritual and cultural significance," said Mashpee Chairman Cedric Cromwell. "We are gratified that the ACHP has validated our concerns related to the proposed Cape Wind project, and we hope that Secretary Salazar will agree with their conclusion that Nantucket Sound is an inappropriate site for the project."
The council is the last agency to be consulted on the project before Salazar renders his decision in mid-April.
It joins the Massachusetts' Office of the State Historical Preservation Officer, who determined that the proposed Cape Wind site is a traditional cultural property that should be preserved, and the National Park Service, which said in January that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a significant traditional, cultural, historic and archaeological property. A designation on the National Register would place Nantucket Sound under a number of federal laws providing protection and preservation of historical and sacred sites.
The ACHP report also recommended that improvements be made in the process for evaluating offshore energy projects.
"The ACHP's review of this project has highlighted the need for broader coordination among federal agencies, states, Indian tribes, industry, consulting parties and the public to address these challenges," the council wrote.
Blow dealt to Cape Wind project
of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm scored a key victory yesterday when a federal panel on historic preservation recommended that U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar kill the project.
The recommendation from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is the final piece required in the review of Cape Wind's effects on historic properties, including sites considered sacred by Indian tribes on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.
The federal panel joins the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and the top historic preservation official in Massachusetts in calling the plan to build 130 turbines on Horseshoe Shoal inappropriate and damaging to historic and cultural properties. The National Park Service in January determined the Sound is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In its seven-page recommendation to Salazar, the advisory council included suggestions for evaluating historic impacts of future offshore alternative energy projects.
"The ACHP's review of this project has highlighted the need for broader coordination among federal agencies, states, Indian tribes, industry, consulting parties and the public to address these challenges," the panel advised.
The review of Cape Wind's effects on historic properties did not occur early enough in the review process and did not allow for adequate consultation with the local Indian tribes, according to the advisory council.
"With today's recommendation by the ACHP, every historic preservation agency at both the state and federal level has come to the same conclusion — that Nantucket Sound is a place of deep historical, spiritual and cultural significance," Mashpee Wampanoag chairman Cedric Cromwell said.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is thrilled with the advisory panel's recommendation and "hopeful that Secretary Salazar will also recognize the significance of the shoal and view shed, support our collective position and deny the permit for that location," tribal chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais said.
Both tribes have argued their ancestors once lived in the area that is now the Sound and are likely buried there. They also contend the 440-foot-tall turbines would interfere with important sunrise ceremonies, although a small group from the Aquinnah tribe contends the sunrise ceremonies have been overblown.
Salazar has said he would make a decision on whether to approve Cape Wind by the end of April.
"He will fully and carefully consider the information and recommendations provided by the council as he moves forward to make a final decision on the Cape Wind power project," his spokeswoman, Kendra Barkhoff wrote in an e-mail to the Times.
Barkhoff would not say when Salazar's decision would come, but a comment period on an updated environmental review of the project does not end until Wednesday. Despite the advisory council's recommendation, Salazar could still approve the project.
The advisory council's recommendation represents only one of many concerns Salazar will evaluate in making his decision, Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers said.
"The bulk of the record was contained in a very favorable final environmental impact statement issued by the Minerals Management Service of the Department of Interior last year that looked at every benefit and impact of the project," Rodgers said. "The (environmental report) found Horseshoe Shoal to be the optimal site for this project."
The advisory council's recommendation is not surprising but it is disappointing, said Barbara Hill, executive director of the main pro-Cape Wind group, Clean Power Now.
Cape Wind has been a driver for the creation of a regulatory process for offshore wind projects, she said. "It has provided lessons learned for everyone," Hill said. "Given that, I do believe that (the historic review of Cape Wind) has been thorough."
The benefits of Cape Wind far outweigh any of the negative impacts of the project, she said.
But for the main Cape Wind opposition group, the advisory council's recommendation adds to a long list of problems with the project.
"I think it's a major setback for Cape Wind," said Audra Parker, president and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "The advisory council has basically said historic preservation and renewable energy are compatible but just not in Nantucket Sound."
Salazar must give considerable weight to the advisory council's recommendation, she said, adding that if he does not, his decision will be open to legal challenges.
In addition to the historic review, there remains the outstanding issue of whether the Federal Aviation Administration will ultimately approve the turbines, Parker said. The FAA has said Cape Wind would have to substantially mitigate the effects of the wind farm on flights over the Sound, something the company has said it can do.
Cape Wind: State official says it would harm the area
State historical preservation officer Brona Simon spoke out against the Cape Wind turbine project proposed for Nantucket Sound during a hearing in Barnstable on Monday. She noted that the project is 24 to 25 square miles. "You can see the concern we have with the adverse effects of the proposal," she said. "The visual element will alter the setting outside the character of the historic properties."
March 24, 2010 in The Patriot Ledger
BARNSTABLE - State historical preservation officer Brona Simon spoke out against the Cape Wind turbine project proposed for Nantucket Sound during a hearing in Barnstable on Monday.
She noted that the project, which would include 130 giant wind turbines, is 24 to 25 square miles.
"You can see the concern we have with the adverse effects of the proposal," she said. "The visual element will alter the setting outside the character of the historic properties."
Simon, head of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, noted that since the sound isn't yet listed as a National Historic Landmark, the National Park Service determined the effects would be indirect, but she noted the sound was important to both the Wampanoag tribes and European settlers.
"In addition, there are underwater cultural resources likely to be imperiled by construction," she said. "(It is an area) likely to have been utilized by native American ancestors."
Simon said alternative sites have been suggested - such as south of Martha's Vineyard.
"In the years since (2001), deep-water wind technology has made considerable progress," she said.
The federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation held Monday's meeting in Barnstable to collect comments about the effects of the wind farm.
That agency will send the comments to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar before April 14, and he'll determine whether the Minerals Management Service will issue the project a permit for development in federal waters.
"Cape Wind has been sensitive to historic and cultural concerns through nine years of this process," Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers told the panel. "The only impacts to historic properties identified there previously are visual. The impacts are minimal only, and the National Park Service has determined Cape Wind has no direct adverse historical impact."
http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x126578903/C...
Concern Over Potential High Costs of Cape Wind
Yesterday, Ian Bowles, the state’s environmental and energy chief and an outspoken backer of Cape Wind, addressed the growing concern over the potential high costs of Cape Wind to ratepayers in the Commonwealth. In a February 17th letter to Cape Wind and National Grid, he urged them to consider consumer costs: “Let me be clear: Our expectation is that the Cape wind project must produce electricity at a substantial discount to the Rhode Island offshore wind project.” This concern was precipitated by “suggestions in the media” that the project could end up costing ratepayers as much as a wind pilot program off Rhode Island, quoted as 30 cents per kilowatt hour versus an average current cost of only 9 cents per kilowatt hour.
Read articles discussing the high cost of Cape Wind:
APNS Press Release: Cape Wind Cost Claims Misleading, Developer's Study Advances Myth of Offshore Wind Savings
Audra Parker’s My View- “Ratepayers will regret Cape Wind”: Link to Article
Boston Herald: Official to Grid: Curb Wind Costs
Cape Cod Times: Bowles Warns Cape Wind on Electric Rates
Please let Ian Bowles know that MA ratepayers are not willing to pay higher electric bills for this irresponsibly sited project. Send your letters, emails, and faxes to Ian Bowles at:
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Telephone: 617.626.1000
Fax: 617.626.1181
Email: env.internet@state.ma.us
Let your voice be heard –
Letters to the Editor:
Cape Cod Times, 319 Main Street, Hyannis MA 02601, letters@capecodonline.com
The New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036, Fax: (212) 556-3622, letters@nytimes.com
The Wall Street Journal, 200 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10281, Fax: (212) 416-2255, Wsj.ltrs@wsj.com
The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain Street, Providence, RI 02902, letters@projo.com
The Boston Globe, Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378, Fax: (617) 929-2098, letter@globe.com
The Boston Herald, One Herald Square, P.O. Box 2096, Boston MA 02106 letterstotheeditor@bostonherald.com
Washington Post, Letters to the Editor, 1150 15 Street NW, Washington, DC 20071, letters@washpost.com
Consider alternatives to fatally flawed site in Nantucket Sound.
Dear SOS Supporters,
We are on a roll, let’s keep the momentum going! Help reinforce that relocating Cape Wind to another site outside of Nantucket Sound is the right thing to do.
Write a letter to USA Today or post comments directly on their website (link below) today!
Check out Audra Parker’s Op-Ed in today’s USA Today:
Opposing view: Not every location works
Consider alternatives to fatally flawed site in Nantucket Sound.
By Audra Parker
On the surface it is easy to support green energy, but not every location works, particularly one that industrializes a national treasure and tramples the religious rights of Native Americans.
The National Park Service is right: Nantucket Sound is a culturally, environmentally and historically significant national treasure, one that deserves protection on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cape Wind could not have picked a worse location to crowd with 130 massive steel towers. The desecration of tribal land is just the tip of the iceberg; the Coast Guard has told fishermen they will have to earn their livelihoods elsewhere, and the FAA has called the project “ a presumed hazard” to aviation safety. Cape Wind presents a menace to tourism, a danger to threatened birds and marine life, and an end to the majestic beauty of Cape Cod and the Islands.
For nine long years, virtually every stakeholder group has opposed this fatally flawed project — ferries, fishermen, tribes, airports, chambers of commerce, environmental groups, elected officials and, increasingly, ratepayers who would have to pay for the power that the U.S. government says would cost double that of existing sources, even after $1 billion of taxpayer dollars.
The central issue has not changed from day one when Cape Wind staked out Nantucket Sound and refused to consider alternatives. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Obama administration need to ask: Should the first offshore wind project in this country be built by ignoring public safety, trampling tribal religious rights, flouting local governance, and seizing public lands already fully utilized by fishermen and boaters?
None of this means that there is no place for wind power. There is. And when we meet this week in Washington, the government will have to face its long ignored duty to consider alternatives and discuss relocation of this doomed project site.
There are many viable alternatives outside of Nantucket Sound that respect tribal rights, don't risk lives and preserve the heart and soul of the Cape and Islands. Secretary Salazar has a historic opportunity to craft a win-win solution, avoid years of conflict and get a project actually built — rather than sent to court for the next decade.
Secretary Salazar: Say "yes" to wind, but "NO" to Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound.
USA Today Editorial:
Our view on alternative power: Cape Wind battles reflect lack of energy seriousness
Approve project. NIMBY politics only feeds fossil fuel dependence.
U.S. to Sound out options on wind farm in Cape Cod
| U.S. to Sound out options on wind farm
It is a shame that George Price Superintendent of Cape Cod National Seashore sees nothing wrong with building a 400 foot wind turbine in the Cape Cod National Seashore whereas just the thought of Nantucket Sound being registered Historic Placescould waylay Cape Wind. Wellfleet should not build an INDUSTRIAL WIND TURBINE in CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE. |
|
| Town of Barnstable among those to be heard
Written by Edward F. Maroney “We shall not be moved” may be the refrain heard from Cape Wind LLC when U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar convenes a meeting of project officials, regulators and participating entities in Washington Jan. 13. |