EXTRA...

Shellfish beds re-open; Three storms in six days; Wind farm supporters cry foul

TODAY's quote: "The technical service corporation that the Coast Guard hired to conduct the radar study will be presenting the findings to members of the Harbor Safety Security Forum of Southeastern Massachusetts as well as participants in the October workshop Dec. 18. If space is available members of the public may attend but this will not be a meeting for public comment. ” - Petty Officer Connie Terrell.

Cape Wind supporters cry foul over delay of report

The Coast Guard's report on Cape Wind's potential effects on radar and navigation is off the immediate radar, postponed by congressional request, until Jan. 15.

"Once the findings are published by the Minerals Management Service in the final Environmental Impact Statement then the public will have the opportunity to comment on these findings. The coast Guard will submit the report by Jan. 15.”
  - Petty Officer Connie Terrell

However, the Coast Guard will reveal the results, for expert comment, to a select group of stakeholders this week.

"The amount of public comment this project has had is - amazing! I don't have a word to describe it," declared Barbara Hill Executive Director of Clean Power Now, a Cape Wind supporter. "Does one more [comment period] matter? How many times has this happened over the course of all these years? But politicians have managed to insert themselves into the project, to comment on it and they've tried to stop it but have not won at any of these junctures."

The report will be submitted to the Minerals and Management Service for inclusion in the final Environmental Impact Statement that would be released at least 30 days prior to granting Cape Wind a lease in Nantucket Sound... Daily News Tribune.
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Long-Closed Dennis Shellfish Beds Re-Open

Two decades after pollution closed a pond and river on Cape Cod to shellfishing, they're being reopened in what a local selectmen calls a "small miracle." Swan Pond and Swan Pond River were put off limits to shellfishing in 1988 because of high fecal coliform levels, caused by flocks of waterfowl, road runoff and cesspools that ringed the pond.

But town officials in Dennis helped clean the area by dredging and enforcing a rule against feeding waterfowl.

It also improved road drainage and enforced septic system regulations, drastically reducing the number of cesspools... WBZ.
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On the map, there is a high pressure area northeast of Maine creating a cold flow from Massachusetts northward. Yesterday, there was an east-west belt of high pressure stretching from New England to Illinois.

Six Days Three Storms

A low pressure area moving east from Lake Ontario will be off the New England coast later this afternoon... In the wake of the current low pressure area, the Great Lakes and Northeast get a break between storms. However, by tomorrow morning we expect to see a low pressure area over Colorado.

It will speed over to Illinois by Friday morning and be southeast of Cape Cod by Saturday morning. The progs last night suggested mainly snow north of a line from Racine, Wisconsin to Buffalo to Providence. In the heaviest snow band, a storm like this can deliver more than 10 inches in 12-15 hours. Yet another storm will follow, taking a path somewhat farther south. As each one approaches, we will be able to nail down who gets what more effectively than we can right now... Accuweather.