Cape & Islands News

Coast Guard gives conditional approval to Cape Wind

Captain of the port finds potential effects on navigation can be mitigated
Alliance says Coast Guard rushed decision for Minerals Management Service

By James Kinsella

But on whose watch will the final report come?

The Bush administration has pushed to get the final MMS report on the Cape Wind project released on its watch, which ends Jan. 20, 2009 when the new president is sworn in.

But the technical requirements that mandate a 30-day delay after the report is issued and before the Interior Department Secretary can officially proclaim it probably means that the Cape Wind decision will become the first major environmental event of the new Obama presidency.

The Coast Guard has given conditional approval to the Cape Wind Associates plan to build a wind turbine farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.

In a conference call Friday morning, Capt. Raymond Perry, captain of the port for southeastern New England, said his analysis of a study of the impact of the 130-turbine array on navigation shows those effects could be mitigated.

Captain Perry said the wind turbine array, which would be built in shallow water, could be treated as islands by vessels passing by in nearby channels.

The captain said the wind farm would pose more of a problem to boats actually inside the area, such as boats fishing on the shoal.

Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind, said the company had no comment on the Coast Guard's findings.

Glenn Wattley, president of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a not-for-profit organization that opposes the wind farm, said the Alliance was disappointed at what he calls a rushed decision.

The Coast Guard, which held an initial workshop on the navigation issue in October, had anticipated that another workshop would be held in December to discuss the findings of a $100,000 study commissioned by the service that looked at the issue, particularly the project's potential effect on marine radar.

But Wattley said the Minerals Management Service, which is the lead federal permitting agency for the wind farm project, requested that the Coast Guard move more quickly, so as to include its findings in the service's ruling on the project.

When will project report come?

The MMS reportedly plans to make a decision on Cape Wind by the end of the year or at least early in January, before the changeover from the Bush to the Obama administration.

The decision had been anticipated as early as today, Friday, Dec. 5, but no ruling came down. A decision around the first two weeks of January is more likely.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne must then wait the required 30 days to make the decision official, which means the official decision will come after Barack Obama's term begins.

The Coast Guard held a workshop in October in Falmouth on the wind farm's potential effect on navigation, with another workshop anticipated later in December.

Wattley said the Alliance was surprised to receive an e-mail Thursday evening, informing the organization of a conference call on the issue scheduled for Friday morning. Given the short notice, Wattley said, the Alliance wasn't able to arrange for two of its witnesses at the October workshop to participate in the call.

The public, he said, isn't getting an opportunity to comment on safety issues that continue to arise about the wind farm.

Richard Elrick, president of Clean Power Now, a non-profit organization that supports the proposed wind farm, said CPN is pleased that the Coast Guard found no incompatibility between navigation and the proposed project.

Clean Power Now's biggest concern had been that the Coast Guard would require Cape Wind to reduce the number of turbines or rearrange them, possibly affecting the viability of the project. But the Coast Guard didn't do so.

Elrick said that while a study commissioned by the Coast Guard found that vessels could sometimes lose turbines as targets on their radars, vessel operators could compensate for that in other ways.

Clean Power Now's biggest concern, Elrick said, was that the Coast Guard would require Cape Wind to reduce the number of turbines or rearrange them, which the organization feared could affect the viability of the project. But the Coast Guard didn't do so.

Cape Wind Associates has proposed a number of measures to address navigation safety at and near the project. They include day beacons, signs, signals and lights at the perimeters of the wind farm, and sound signals; specially marked traffic lanes and recommended vehicle routes; the establishment of a control center with staffing and equipment to monitor activity at and near the wind farm; and working with the Coast Guard and other entities to educate mariners on navigation safety issues related to the wind farm.

In October, conflicting data from previous radar studies prompted the Coast Guard to contract an independent study on how the wind turbine generators may impact marine radar systems and navigation on vessels operating in the area.

On Friday morning, in a continuing effort to share information, Coast Guard officials participated in a telephone conference with Nantucket Sound waterways users who had participated in October's workshop. The goal of the conference call, led by Perry, was to share the outcome of the radar study with the users.

In addition to the radar study, the Coast Guard also has evaluated hazards mariners may face if the wind farm is constructed. The Coast Guard looked at the proximity of the wind farm to shipping lanes, hazards to fishing vessels when navigating with gear and nets extended, marking and labeling the wind towers in accordance with standard aids to navigation policy, and the impact of ice build up on the turbines. Additionally, the Coast Guard evaluated the impact, if any, that the proposed wind energy facility may have on Coast Guard missions, such as search and rescue.

With the exception of the radar study, those findings were submitted by Coast Guard Headquarters to the Minerals Management Service on Nov. 14.

After receiving feedback from key Nantucket Sound waterways users, Perry will forward a recommendation that will be routed to Coast Guard Headquarters. From there, the recommendation will be transmitted to the Minerals Management Service for their consideration.

Wattley said the Coast Guard review remains a work in progress. He said the Alliance plans to submit letters stating the organization's concerns, and is looking for allies such as U.S. Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, who Wattley said wants to see an adequate comment period on Cape Wind.

Approval authority for the wind farm lies with the Minerals Management Service, the lead federal permitting agency for the project.