Cape & Islands News

Western Hemisphere's Largest Wind Farm proposed for Lake Ontario

Our Canadian Cousin show the Yanks how to do it right
Trillium 1 will produce 700 Mega Watts with 140 turbines

John Kourtoff, the president of privately held Trillium Power Energy Corp. of Toronto, said today that his company will seek permits from the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal governments to build what would be the biggest offshore wind farm outside of northern Europe.
And his reception by Canadian provincial and national officials has been emphatic and positive. Mr. Kourtoff's company has been developing the windfarm quietly over the past 10 years. He says that in the day since the formal announcement he has received over 150 emails from around the world (even Iraq and Iran) congratulating him and asking for information.

Enthusiastic press, helpful tourist boards 

The local press and public has been equally supportive with none of the NIMBYism and flack hurled at Cape Wind here on Cape Cod.† Even the tourist officials have lauded the project pointing to the benefits of British and European wind farms as a popular attraction.

The proposed $1+ billion project called Trillium Power Wind 1 will have a potential capacity of more than 700 Mega Watts and the project has already drawn promises of financial backing from institutional investors the Trillium president said.
Trillium wants to erect more than 140 massive wind turbines in the middle of Lake Ontario in what would become the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere

Trillium says the project will provide enough clean electricity to power more than 200,000 homes and would be in waters between 1 and 80 feet about 10 miles offshore from Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville, Ontario, Canada

 The local press and public has been equally supportive with none of the NIMBYism and flack hurled at Cape Wind here on Cape Cod.† Even the tourist officials have lauded the project pointing to the benefits of British and European wind farms as a popular attraction.

The proposed $1+ billion project called Trillium Power Wind 1 will have a potential capacity of more than 700 Mega Watts and the project has already drawn promises of financial backing from institutional investors the Trillium president said.
Trillium wants to erect more than 140 massive wind turbines in the middle of Lake Ontario in what would become the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere

Trillium says the project will provide enough clean electricity to power more than 200,000 homes and would be in waters between 1 and 80 feet about 10 miles offshore from Prince Edward County, just south of Belleville, Ontario, Canada.

"If you look out on the horizon, you'll barely see anything on the clearest day," said Kourtoff, adding the project would cost more than $1 billion. "We already have the financial backers."

By going offshore, the company plans to take advantage of better wind conditions, based on 36 years of wind data.

Benefits to fishing touted

Kourtoff said the turbine bases would help support aquatic life, since fish and other water species tend to cluster and find sanctuary around underwater objects. The shallow waters also mean there is no danger of large ships hitting the structures. Studies done so far indicate that the turbines would not conflict with the flight paths of birds. "There are no flyways, no aviary issues," Kourtoff said.

The project would dwarf the largest onshore projects already underway in Ontario. Kourtoff said the turbine bases would help support aquatic life, since fish and other water species tend to cluster and find sanctuary around underwater objects. The shallow waters also mean there is no danger of large ships hitting the structures. Studies done so far indicate that the turbines would not conflict with the flight paths of birds.

"There are no flyways, no aviary issues," Kourtoff said. The project would dwarf the largest onshore projects already underway in Ontario. Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, said Canada is just scratching the surface of its wind-energy potential, even though wind is expected to account for nearly 20% of new electricity generation in the next decade.

Trillium President Kourtoff said that the shallow water site in Lake Ontario where his company wants to build its project offers many advantages that are not shared by two other ambitious offshore wind projects elsewhere, both of which are stalled. One is in Massachusetts, off Cape Cod, the other in northern British Columbia between the Queen Charlotte Islands and the British Columbia mainland.

New routes for Right Whales

Coast Guard Backs New Shipping Lanes for Atlantic Right Whale
Canal entrances are two of the new restricted routes

The U.S. Coast Guard is proposing changes in shipping routes from Florida to Boston in an effort to prevent collisions with critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Despite this course realignment plan, the Coast Guard has yet to act on speed restrictions and other safety measures in right whale migratory areas, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Ship strikes are the largest known cause of death for the North Atlantic right whale, considered one of the planet's most endangered species with less than 300 animals left in existence. In the past year, five percent of the total female breeding population has been killed, as well as two near term calves.

In a Federal Register notice posted on May 24, 2006, the Coast Guard recommended establishing:

• "Precautionary areas" at the entrance to the ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina Beach, FL, and Brunswick, GA, as well as at the entrance to Cape Cod Canal and in the vicinity of New Inlet, MA. According to the notice, a precautionary area means a routing measure "where vessels must navigate with particular caution" and subject to recommended traffic directions;
• "Two-way routes" for the ports of Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach and Brunswick (six per port) and in Cape Cod Bay to the ports of Boston and Provincetown, MA, and the entrance to Cape Cod Canal (three each), as well as one two-way recommended track from the Cape Cod Canal entrance to Provincetown. Two-way routes limit traffic lanes in order to provide "safe passage of ships through waters where navigation is difficult or dangerous"; and
• A new "Traffic Separation Scheme" for the western portion of the approach to Boston Harbor so as to widen the separation of opposing streams of traffic.

“This is a welcome first step for the Coast Guard, but if traffic routing alone is insufficient to save the right whale from ship strikes, then this may be a colossal waste of time,” stated New England PEER Director Kyla Bennett, on right, a former federal biologist whose organization is also pushing for adoption of long-stalled comprehensive strategy by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that would also require reduced ship speeds and channel restrictions in sensitive calving and migratory areas.

The Coast Guard has rebuffed earlier efforts by NOAA to set speed limits or implement emergency protective measures on a timely basis during the right whale migration along the Eastern Seaboard. This past January, the Coast Guard also rejected an emergency petition by PEER to set up safety zones following the death of a right whale calf by ship strike off the Florida coast.

“The question is whether the remaining right whale population will live long enough to benefit from effective federal intervention,” added Bennett.

See the PEER report here. 

Gimme shelter, gimme Flex, gimme a town band

Harwich news of the week
May 31, 2006

Facts On Flex Following years of anticipation and months of planning, residents of the Lower/Outer Cape will be rewarded with frequent, year-round public transportation Thursday, June 1 when the innovative Flex bus begins running under the direction of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority.     The bus will run every half hour, seven days a week from 6 in the morning to about 10 p.m. through Labor Day. After then, hourly service is planned. Twelve new buses with clean-burning engines, purchased for $3.4 million by the Cape Cod National Seashore, will be used.     Flex will run along a defined route between Harwich Port and Provincetown (serving Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Brewster) but will also go up to three-quarters of a mile off its route to pick up and discharge passengers who have made a reservation at least two hours ahead of time. See the route map here... [more] Gimme shelter By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com With a top-category hurricane barreling toward Cape Cod, would residents respond to evacuation orders if they couldn’t bring along, or make some arrangement, for the care of dogs or cats? Most pet owners, like Harwich Port resident Nan Poor, say they wouldn’t... [more] Dioramas illustrate town’s maritime history By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com Long before the cranberry became king, Harwich lived off the sea. In the 19th century, without the harbors it has today, the town depended on merchants’ wharves in Nantucket Sound and the Herring River. Local historian John Roche has created five dioramas depicting the wharves. Three of them are on display in the front window of the House of Morgan on Main Street in Harwich Port... [more] Groundcovers don’t have to be green By Stephanie Foster/ sfoster@cnc.com The word ground cover conjures up a sea of shining green pachysandra for me. Actually in my own yard, it’s more of a puddle of yellow leaves... [more]

Harwich: The Old Comers By Fran Geberths Twenty years after the settlement of Plymouth plantation in 1620, the royal patent establishing the Plymouth Colony was transferred by the Purchasers - or as they were sometimes known - the Old Comers, to the freemen of the colony. Soon, second-generation Pilgrims began migrating to Duxbury, Marshfield and south to Sandwich and Yarmouth on Cape Cod. In 1643 the Plymouth church had purchased land from the Monomoy Indians in the area now Orleans, but a later survey showed the purchase to be too small for the growing colony’s needs. The land was then open to any wishing to settle there provided they reimbursed the colony for the cost of the purchase... [more]

Carolyn Cragin takes top job at school district By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com Saying she is impressed with Harwich’s enthusiasm for its students, Carolyn Cragin last week accepted the school superintendent’s post... [more]

Good things come to those who wait By Ginny Hewitt "How come I don’t see the bestsellers at your library?" The absence of the really popular books on our "New" shelves leads some library users... [more]

Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings The following sightings were reported to Mass Audubon between May 18 and May 24, 2006. If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to sightings@massaudubon.org... [more]

Krenrich-Russo Lonni and Frederick Krenrich of Harwich announce the engagement of their daughter, Abby Michele Krenrich of New York to Marc Anthony Vincent Russo of New York, son of the late Anthony and Margaret Russo... [more]

Harwich's own 'military mom' By Kathy Schade Today I am wearing two hats, my "mother" hat and my "chamber" hat. Last Saturday, my 21-year-old "baby" came home. After six months in Iraq, and another month or so in Gulfport, Miss., he finally was home. For two weeks leave. Here. Harwich. Home... [more]

HMS band wins gold The Harwich Middle School band grabbed a coveted Gold Award at the Great East Music Festival in Wilbraham on May 12. According to band director Gordon Napier, the band, composed of 41 students from grades 6 through 9, performed a medley of Mozart compositions, Glenn Miller's "In the Mood," and a graduation tune called "Achievement" before two judges at Minnechaud High School... [more]

Applying for affordable housing not an easy task By Steve Desroches/ sdesroch@cnc.com A man in Wellfleet thinks that Barnstable County keeps a master list. A woman in Provincetown assumed that you register at town hall and put your in some sort of database and then you receive an e-mail when it's your turn. One couple who's been waiting for five years missed the last one because they didn't even know it was coming... [more]

Alleged burglary is foiled Harwich police responded late Sunday night to a report of a breaking and entering in progress at a business located on Lower County Road... [more]

The ospreys have landed! By Text and photos Stephanie Foster/ sfoster@cnc.com When the Harwich Conservation Trust and AmeriCorps volunteers installed an osprey platform in the marshlands of the Herring River in West Harwich, they kept their fingers crossed that it would get used. Well, they can uncross them. The osprey have landed. A pair has taken up residence and begun building a nest... [more]

How selectmen voted... Agreement with Cape Cod Tech regarding emergency shelter for animals No/ Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes. Increase disposal area sticker fee from $85 to $100 Yes/No/Yes/No/Yes... [more]

Read the rest of these Oracle stories here, and comment below.

2 studies tie stronger hurricanes to global warming

MIT and Purdue researchers reach same conclusions
Home insurance premiums to rise 20-30% with hurricane deductibles

Stories today in the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle report that global warming is a direct cause of the recent, stronger hurricanes to hit the U.S. coast.

Climate researchers at Purdue University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology separately reported new evidence Tuesday supporting the idea that global warming is causing stronger hurricanes.

That claim is the subject of a long-running scientific dispute. And while the new research supports one side, neither the authors nor other climate experts say it is conclusive.

In one new paper, to appear in a coming issue of Geophysical Research Letters, Matthew Huber of the Purdue department of earth and atmospheric sciences and Ryan Sriver, a graduate student there, calculate the damage that could be caused by storms worldwide, using data normally applied to reconciling weather forecast models with observed weather events.

The Purdue scientists found that their results matched earlier work by Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane expert at MIT. Emanuel has argued that global warming, specifically the warming of the tropical oceans, is already increasing the power expended by hurricanes.

The WSJ story warned that the developments along our own coastline since the disastrous 1938 storm makes our region far more vulnerable today.

The WSJ story begins,

Bracing for the Worst
Believed at Risk of a Major Hurricane, Northeast Chafes as Insurers Pull Out

Nearly 70 years ago, a violent hurricane ripped across the south shore of Long Island, then largely farmland. The storm, locally dubbed the Long Island Express, sent 30- to 50-foot waves surging ashore, killing 50 people and 750,000 chickens in the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk.

Tomorrow, a new hurricane season is set to begin, with the ever-present threat that a mammoth storm could deviate from recent patterns making landfall in the Southeast and follow a path similar to that of the Long Island Express. But where chickens scratched in 1938 now sit some of the most expensive homes in the U.S. As a result, the insurance  market here is showing glimmers of the kind of fragility that has plagued places like Florida.

The story goes on to state that home insurance premiums are going up as much as 20% to 30%, and hurricane deductibles may follow.

Read the stories here, here and here, and comment below.

Police raid, Oil spill, Student stabbed, School bus accident, Arrests in Pit Bull deaths

FRIDAY JUNE 2, 2006
PEDESTRIAN CRITICALLY INJURED IN DENNIS
DENNIS – A pedestrian was critically injured after being struck by a vehicle on Route 6A in Dennis. It happened around 9 PM near the intersection of Briarfield Road. The victim was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital. Dennis Police are investigating. Further details were not immediately available.

OIL SPILL REPORTED IN BOURNE
BOURNE – Crews from Bourne Fire and the Coast Guard are on the scene of an oil spill on the water in Bourne. Booms were deployed to contain the spill. The size and cause of the spill could not immediately be confirmed. We’ll bring you further details as they become available.

STUDENT STABBED INSIDE FALMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
FALMOUTH – A 17 year old Falmouth High School student is under arrest charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a 15-year old shortly before 11 AM. Falmouth Police tell Cape Wide News Erica Schouten, believed to be a junior allegedly stabbed a female freshman for unknown reasons. School resource officer Cheryl Atherton was at the school and responded immediately along with school officials. Police also say Schouten kicked a school official twice. No motive for the attack was given. Schouten was arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (knife), assault with intent to murder, and two counts of assault and battery on a public employee. The victim’s injuries are reportedly not life-threatening. Grief counselors are expected to be made available for students who knew the victim or suspect and/or may have witnessed the attack.

TWO INJURED IN SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT
DENNIS – Two people in a truck were slightly injured when it was rear-ended by a school bus. Police say the truck stopped to let some students cross Bob Crowell Road near Old Bass River Road around 7 AM when the bus rear-ended them. The truck driver 36-year old Frederick Van Sickle of Yarmouthport and a passenger 19-year old Alex Anderson were taken to Cape Cod Hospital for evaluation. Two other passengers were treated at the scene. None of the students on the bus or the bus driver were injured. Dennis Police are investigating the crash.

FALMOUTH POLICE EXECUTE SEARCH WARRANT
FALMOUTH – Falmouth Police acting on a tip of stolen handguns from Florida and a suspect with outstanding warrants raided a home on Pinehurst Drive Friday morning. They didn’t find the guns but with the assistance of the Mass State Police STOP team arrested 40-year old Steven Gauthier on the warrants. Police also say they did recover stolen motor vehicle parts.

TWO CAPE MEN ARRESTED IN PIT BULL SHOOTINGS
Keith Tynock of Cotuit and Todd Souderberg of Forestdale have been accused in the shooting deaths of two pit bulls referenced below. Barnstable Police Sergeant Sean Sweeney says the two men, both 26, have been arrested.

The police said the men had taken the two pit bulls from a friend who was moving, but found that the dogs were not getting along with another pit bull he already owned. Tynock and Souderberg allegedly put the dogs in the trunk of a car and drove them to a wooded area in West Barnstable, where they were shot numerous times.

Keith Kynock said the dogs did not get along. Kynock became angry and asked a friend, Todd Soderberg, to help him get rid of them. The men shot the dogs 37 times with automatic weapons in the wooded area on right.  

THURSDAY JUNE 1st, 2006 - Second Pit Bull incidsent this week;
PIT BULL SHOT DURING WARRANT EXECUTION
COPS WERE LOOKING FOR SUSPECT IN SHOTS FIRED INCIDENT
CENTERVILLE – A specialized response team consisting of Barnstable and Yarmouth police officers shot a pit bull while executing a warrant at a home on Strawberry Hill Road early Thursday morning. It all started Wednesday night around 8 PM when police responded to a shots fired call on Pine Street in Hyannis. Based on information provided by witnesses that shots had been in fact fired, police obtained a no-knock warrant for the house on Strawberry Hill Road where the 16-year old suspect’s mother lived. Police say the dog lunged at them but the occupants of the home who were handcuffed during the search per protocol disagree with that account saying the dog was not aggressive. The suspect was not at the house and is still at large. It’s the second time shots have been fired in Hyannis in the last three weeks, fortunately no one has been hit in either incident.

DRIVER EXTRICATED AFTER ROLLOVER CRASH
FALMOUTH A driver had to be extricated from their vehicle after it rolled over at the intersection of McCallum Drive and Sippewisset Road around 10 PM. The victim was not seriously injured. Falmouth Police are investigating the crash.

APARTMENT COMPLEX EVACUATED BY GAS MAIN BREAK   
DENNIS – An apartment building was briefly evacuated after the gas service was torn from the building. It happened around 6 PM. Firefighters were able to shut off the gas until Keyspan could arrived and make repairs. Further details were not immediately available.

CAPE FIREFIGHTERS HELP QUELL ONSET BRUSH FIRES
INVESTIGATORS LOOK TO SEE IF BLAZES CONNECTED TO SERIES OF FIRES
ONSET – Firefighters from Bourne were among those called from several towns to help put out over a dozen brush fires along the Cranberry Highway early this morning. Crews set up a staging area behind the Walmart in the Onset section of Wareham. No homes were threatened and no one was injured. Investigators are trying to see if the fires are connected to a series of fires in the Bournehurst Drive area.

FIRST WHALE STOLEN, THEN OTHERS VANDALIZED
HYANNIS – Earlier this week thieves made off with a 400 pound fiberglass sculpture of a whale that was part of the Cape Cod Whale Trail* exhibition. A $1,000 reward has been offered and authorities say several men were seen by an eyewitness putting the whale into a red van possible a Dodge. To add insult to injury sometime Wednesday two other whales were vandalized. The whales are to be eventually auctioned off for charity.

Read the rest of the Cape Wide News stories here, and comment below. 

Jay Cashman files application for wind farms

According to a story in today's Standard-Times, Jay Cashman has filed his applications for the three wind farms in Buzzards Bay as he stated he would.

Here's the S-T story; 

A Quincy developer yesterday applied for state approval to build a $750 million offshore wind farm with 90 to 120 turbines in Buzzards Bay.

The turbines would provide an energy source equal to 2 percent of the current statewide electrical energy consumption, according to the application filed with the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, which will begin a review process.
Under the Buzzards Bay proposal, windmills 400 feet high would be built 3 to 4 miles off the coast of Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven, Barneys Joy in Dartmouth and Naushon Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands. The plan was first reported by The Standard-Times last week.

Read the rest here, and comment below. 

FAA shut down 15 mid-west wind farms this year

Despite the fact that wind farm developers solved the problem with radar by installing new software at the radar installation and realigning some towers, and that the British government dropped its blanket opposition to proposed wind farms, political pressure from Senator John Warner and others has moved the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to shut down fifteen wind farm since the first of this year.

"This is a big, ugly political maneuver by a handful of people who are undermining America's energy security," said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a non-profit group that promotes renewable power adding that despite the government's recent concern about proposed wind projects, it is allowing dozens of current wind farms to continue to operate within sight of radar systems.

The government's bureaucratic entanglements come as President Bush is encouraging the use of more wind power as a solution to the skyrocketing prices of oil and natural gas, and for environmental problems such as global warming. During a speech in Milwaukee three months ago, Bush said wind turbines eventually could provide 20 percent of the nation's energy needs. 

The Chicago Tribune exposes the depth of this chicanery in this story today; 

FAA takes the wind out of wind farms
Critics blame politics after agency suspends projects in Midwest

By Michael Hawthorne,Chicago Tribune staff reporter, Published May 31, 2006

The federal government has stopped work on more than a dozen wind farms planned across the Midwest, saying research is needed on whether the giant turbines could interfere with military radar.

But backers of wind power say the action has little to do with national security. The real issue, they say, is a group of wealthy vacationers who think a proposed wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts would spoil the view at their summer homes.

Opponents of the Cape Wind project include several influential members of Congress. Critics say their latest attempt to thwart the planting of 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound has led to a moratorium on new wind farms hundreds of miles away in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Federal officials declined to reveal how many stop-work orders have been sent out. But developers said that at least 15 wind farm proposals in the Midwest have been shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration since the start of the year...

Read the rest of the Chi-Trib story here, and comment below.

Boston Oil Spill

BOSTON - United States Coast Guard Sector Boston received a call early this morning reporting a heavy fuel oil spill in the vicinity of the ExxonMobil facility located in Everett, Massachusetts.

Sector Boston dispatched teams, including small boats and a helicopter, to investigate the source and extent of the oil spill. USCG personnel along with ExxonMobil representatives identified the source of the spill to be a small hole in a facility cargo pipe. ExxonMobil accepted responsibility for the spill and hired cleanup contractors to contain and recover the spilled oil.

Sector Boston personnel will continue to monitor the cleanup efforts underway by the responsible party. The amount of oil spilled into the Mystic River is undetermined at this time. Primary and secondary containment booms have been deployed around the spill. Recovery operations commenced late this morning and will continue through the evening.

The factors leading to the release of oil from the holed cargo pipe are under investigation.

See the WHDH video here. 

Hyannis whale-napped, $1,000 reward offered

Reward Offered for Stolen Whale
Whale sculpture was to be auctioned off for charity

The Cape and Islands Whale Trail announced today a $1,000 reward for the safe return of the whale sculpture stolen over the weekend from the Hyannis Village Green. “That anyone would take such a beautiful work of art and deprive the residents and visitors to Hyannis of the chance to witness it themselves is shocking,” said Trail Manager Suzanne Myler. The six-foot statue entitled “Great Spirit” featured photo-realistic paintings of endangered animals painted by local artist Jurek Zamoyski. (The photo on the right of "Whale Edgar" is typical.)

The whale sculpture was scheduled to amaze visitors to Hyannis Village Green throughout the summer, and then be auctioned in September to benefit the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). IFAW Public Affairs Director Patrick Ramage said, “We thought this whale would be safe, but this is a case of art imitating life. Live whales aren't safe either. They face growing threats and thousands have been stolen through illegal whaling.”

Whale Trail staffers hope that the thieves realize that their prank was a serious felony. “Instead of a drunken prank, the thieves have stolen themselves a whale of a problem,” said Myler. “They’ve committed a serious crime and are now in possession of something that’s impossible to sell and very difficult to hide.”

With the offer of a reward and the tremendous attention that the Whale Trail is receiving this summer, Myler expects the whale to be recovered soon. “With everybody on the lookout for the whale, someone will spot it in a garage or back yard and report it.”

And if the reward doesn’t work, the threat of significant prison time for grand theft will push the thieves to return the whale on their own. “Eye witnesses say that the whale was taken by a group of people, so it’s just a matter of time before one of the thieves realizes that it’s in his best interest to return the whale before his buddies turn him in.”

“We are in touch with the artist and are hopeful we will be able to find or replace 'Great Spirit' so visitors to Hyannis will be able to go 'whale watching' this summer when they visit the Village Green,” Ramage said. “Animals, people and public art displays all do better when whales are seen and not hurt."

Anyone with information that can lead to the recovery of the whale sculpture is urged to contact their local law enforcement agency or call the Whale Trail directly at 501/744-6780.For more information on the Whale Trail visit, The Cape and Island Whale Trail.

The Cape & Islands Whale Trail, the largest public arts display to ever take place on the Cape, features more than 50 beautifully hand-painted whale sculptures located across Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. The Trail is supported by sponsors, tourism officials, and the community to showcase the talent and creativity of renowned local artists, boost tourism, and ultimately, to benefit and build awareness for a host of charitable organizations. Maps to follow the route will be available Memorial Day weekend. All of the whales can be “spotted” from June to September. Presenting sponsor is the Creative Arts Center in Chatham, Mass.; educational sponsor is the International Fund for Animal Welfare, headquartered in Yarmouth Port, Mass.; and radio/media sponsor is WQRC Ocean 104 FM.

Head-spinning announcement launches a debate

 Nimby moves west to the Massachusetts South Coast
Local coverage of the proposed Buzzards Bay wind farms starts

The three newly proposed wind farms in Buzzards Bay are now receiving the kind of scruntiny a good newspaper gives a controversial issue.

For the second time this week, The Standard-Times' Becky Evans has gone out to the areas which will be most affected by the wind farms and spoken to countless local, year-round residents.

Later today the Reuters New Agency ran a similar story with a slightly different "spin." 

The Standard-Times second survey of local opinion resulted in this headline and story: 

Debate swirls around wind turbine plan
By Becky W. Evans, Standard-Times staff writer

Farmer Manuel H. Sylvia thinks an offshore wind farm in Buzzards Bay is a bad idea. His Dartmouth home is close enough to the scenic bay to smell the salt air and feel its strong breezes.
He doesn't want to hear fog horns blaring from the 40 turbines that Boston developer Jay Cashman wants to plant about three miles off Barneys Joy.
"I'd not be able to sleep," Mr. Sylvia said. Amy Burnes, who lives around the bend, supports the proposed 300-megawatt wind farm.
"We've got to start someplace," Ms. Burnes said. "It doesn't matter if they are ugly or different, energy is so much more important." 

The New Bedford Standard-Times has long been in support of renewable energy including the Cape Wind project proposed for Nantucket Sound.

With that newspaper's usual thoroughness they have begun to report both sides of this new, NIMBY issue in their own circulation area.

As an example, the newspaper quotes Dave Hebert, owner of Earl's Marina in Fairhaven, who grew up looking at the open bay, said he would prefer the landscape to remain untouched. "I saw the view my whole life and I'm partial to it," he said. But he understands that change is on the horizon and wind turbines could become commonplace if oil reserves dry up. If a wind farm does come to Buzzards Bay, Mr. Hebert said South Coast residents should be rewarded with lower electricity bills. 

The Reuters New Agency today reported a slighty different spin;

New Cape Cod wind farm plan drawing positive spin
By David Ortiz

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Location. Location. Location. The axiom usually cited in valuing real estate could just as easily apply to offshore wind-power farms, it seems.

After a battle over plans to build the world's largest offshore wind-power farm within view of some of the wealthiest communities in Massachusetts' Cape Cod resort region, a new proposal for a rival project in view of more working-class areas is drawing stronger support...

The new proposal is also being cautiously welcomed in the working-class towns along Buzzards Bay such as New Bedford, a fishing port about 60 miles south of Boston where many residents hoped it would reduce rising energy bills.

"The rod-and-reel fisherman is the same guy who's had the price of fuel going up 100 percent in the last few years," said Steve Cadieux, 54, sitting in a bait and tackle shop.

Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here, and comment below.
Read the Reuters story here.
Read Ms. Evans' previous story here.
The photo of the Buzzards Bay entrance light courtesy of the USGC.