Cape & Islands News

DEP approves water quality permit for Cape Wind

State permit was needed for laying of power cable
Cape Wind project moves one step closer to reality

By James Kinsella

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has approved a water quality permit for Cape Wind Associates, clearing the way for the laying of power cable from the proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound through eight miles of state waters.

The permit covers 7.6 miles of 12.5 miles of cable that would connect the proposed wind farm of 130 turbines with the mainland and its power grid. The rest of the cable would be placed in federal waters.

The permit sets out conditions for putting in the cable, including its dredging, backfilling and keeping down turbidity during construction. The permit also seeks to protect eelgrass and the spawning of various species in the area.

Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind, said the importance of the permit is two-fold.

"It's another step forward for the project," Rodgers said. "And it underscores that this is a clean, renewable energy project."

Although Rodgers said any construction would have an environmental impact, he said Cape Wind has proposed work that is responsible, temporary and minor.

A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, Edmund Coletta, said the permit covers 7.6 miles of 12.5 miles of cable that would connect the proposed wind farm of 130 turbines with the mainland and its power grid. The rest of the cable would be placed in federal waters.

The cable would extend from the proposed project site on Horseshoe Shoal to the shore in West Yarmouth, continuing inland to hook up into the grid.

The agency approved the permit on Aug. 15. Coletta said the agency wasn't required to publish or otherwise make known to the public that it had made a decision on the permit. The DEP did send notification letters to Cape Wind, the proponent, and to the sole commenter, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which opposes the wind farm.

Before building the wind farm, Cape Wind must obtain other federal and state permits, including a Chapter 91 permit from the DEP for crossing filled or underwater tidelands.

Coletta said Cape Wind initially applied for a Chapter 91 permit four years ago, but set that application aside with the intention of revising it.

He said the agency would hold a public hearing on that permit when requested, and seek public comments, before deciding whether to approve the application.