No compromise deal for Cape Wind offshore wind project

March 4, 2010

Secretary Salazar on a tour of the proposed wind farm site near Cape Cod in February. photo credit Tami A. Heilmann-DOI

The Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, said this week that there will be no compromise deal for the 468MW Cape Wind offshore wind project being proposed for Nantucket Sound.

The Native American tribes and the wind developers Cape Wind Associates, LLC, have not been able to agree on mitigation measures to make the project acceptable to both.

As a result, Secretary Salazar will take a decision one way or the other on the proposal for Horseshoe Shoal.

The developers are proposing 130 wind turbines, each 440 feet high, for a 25 square mile site in federal waters by Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is still to make its recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior, and the public now has 45 days to offer their views to the Advisory Council.

However, once the Council’s views are submitted, Secretary Salazar will then take a decision, he said on Monday.

“The time has come to bring the reviews and analysis of the Cape Wind Project to a conclusion,” Secretary Salazar said.

“It is clear to me that the consulting parties are not able to bridge their divides and reach agreement on actions to minimize and mitigate the Cape Wind Project’s effects on historic and cultural resources.”

Negotiations

Agencies and local communities have been meeting since July 2008 to find a way for all sides to accept the offshore wind turbines off the Massachusetts coast.

Secretary Salazar met with consulting parties in Washington, DC, on January 13, 2010, setting a March 1 deadline for an agreement on acceptable mitigation measures for the project.

He then met with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), who are opposing the project stating that the location is sacred to them.

With no agreement forthcoming, the Department is officially terminating the consultation process this week, and requesting input from the Advisory Council.

Secretary Salazar said in his letter to the Council that further negotiations over the project “would not be productive”.

A decision on the project is now expected from the Department of the Interior in April, 2010.