In the fall of 2001, Jim Gordon of Energy Management Inc. (EMI) announced his intentions to build a 420 megawatt wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts - the nation’s first. Now, the long permitting process that was made even longer by powerful opposition groups, is nearing resolution…finally.

More than 40,000 individuals and organizations have submitted comments on an environmental review of the wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound, according to an article in the Cape Cod Times.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Rodney Cluck, Cape Wind project manager for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the lead federal agency to review Cape Wind Associates’ plan to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts. Originally, the comments were set to be released last Friday, but officials at the Minerals Management Service postponed the release to give agency staffers more time to organize the overwhelming public response to the proposed wind farm.

As a result of the scoping process’ popularity, the MMS announced that they would be preemptively extending the comment period for all of the remaining “Alternative Energy Leases” from 30 to 60 days.

The final number of public comments submitted on the agency’s Cape Wind draft environmental report has yet to be tallied. But it is quite telling that an earlier 2005 report on the same project issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers produced one-tenth the number of comments than this one indicates that MMS did something right since taking over the review of Cape Wind from the Army Corps as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (As an aside, I think it also says something about the Corps of Engineers’ ability to adequately conduct a thorough public scoping process).

Opponents remain critical; supporters remain confident

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the project’s most vocal opponent, enlisted 40 experts to review the report. The hired guns produced a 3,000-page critique of the Cape Wind proposal. One theme of critique coming from private scientists as well as public ones, was that the report’s information on migratory birds and fishery habitats where the project would be located is inadequate. “At the very least, the (report) should explain why recommended studies and analyses were not conducted and the ramifications of not having that information,” Michael Bartlett, supervisor for the New England Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Despite the criticisms of the MMS report, the vast majority of comments submitted will be in favor of the project, predicted Mark Rodgers, Communications Director for Cape Wind Associates.

A record of decision from the agency indicating approval or disapproval of the Cape Wind project is expected to be released sometime in the winter. And only then will this long, arduous journey be over…right?

Cape Cod Times

Other Posts Related to the Cape Wind Project:

“The Politicos Chiming in On Cape Wind” :: sustainablog (8/2005)

“(D)emocracy: Tell the Feds What You Think About Cape Wind” :: Planetsave (2/2008)

“Survey Finds Overwhelming Support for Cape Wind” :: ecopolitology (8/2007)

“Breaking: MMS Report Favorable on Cape Wind” :: sustainablog (1/2008)

“Cape Wind Opponent to Step Down” :: sustainablog (1/2008)

Photo: © Kamil Sobócki | Dreamstime.com

Wind Energy Systems Technology (WEST) will use old oil platforms to support new wind turbines. Herman Schellstede, CEO of WEST, holds sixty-seven U.S. patents and ten international patents, and is a naval architect and marine engineer. His partner, Harold Schoeffler, is a longtime Louisiana environmentalist, having co-founded Save Our Coast. The company is presently engaging in wind monitoring activities, shown in the picture at left. Still, I haven’t seen any announcement of any turbines actually being built on these recycled oil platforms. Wired has a nice story with great visuals dating from Feb. 2007. If anyone has more recent news, please comment below. Remaking old oil platforms into clean energy sources is a beguiling idea, but it would be even more charming to actually see wind turbines producing wind off the coast of Texas.

The proposed Cape Wind project would be comprised of 130 wind turbines that could generate a maximum of 468 megawatts output with an average output of approximately 180 megawatts. The project is proposed to be located on federal submerged lands in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts.

When compared with the data from previous research, it is clear that support is growing among Massachusetts residents. The research was conducted by the Civil Society Institute, a Massachusetts think tank focused on problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business. This most recent iteration of the survey research has a sample size of 1200 adults.

Highlights from the survey:

• Support for Cape Wind in Massachusetts statewide has grown to 86 percent -– compared to 84 percent in August 2007 and 81 percent in June 2006 surveys posing the same question.
• The growth in support for the Cape Wind project in Cape Cod/the Islands is even more striking -– rising to 74 percent in the new recent survey, compared to 61 percent in October 2007.
• 95 percent of state residents think it is “important” that “Massachusetts take the steps needed now to ‘unplug’ itself from coal- and oil-based power and ‘plug in’ to solar, wind and other clean energy sources.”

Monitor Real-Time Weather Conditions at Proposed Site

Read the survey report here (pdf).

Photo Credit: phault via flickr

“Federal report favorable on wind farm”

According to the 718-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released by the MMS, the proposed wind farm would have little lasting impact on wildlife, navigation and tourism - claims that Cape Wind supporters have been making since the project was proposed seven years ago.

This may be the biggest regulatory hurdle Cape Wind needs for passage, but it is not the last. Per federal law, the EIS will now be subject to a 60-day public comment period beginning on January 17. Those wishing to comment may do so via MMS Public Connect, or at a series of meetinsg to be held in the Boston area and Cape Cod in March. The project is also subject to review by half a dozen state and local agencies, some of which have been openly opposed to the new transmission lines required by the project. One could also assume that opponents would most likely file lawsuits hoping to stop the project should it win final approval next November.

Official statements are expected by Cape Wind and the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound later today. ***UPDATE***
Draft EIS on Cape Wind (PDF)
Boston Globe
Cape Wind (current wind conditions)