Guest Report post Posted November 29, 2004 Northeast: Nantucket Shoal Remember this from the other day? STATE CAPITOL BRIEFS From: State House News Service Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 5:28 PM WIND FARM COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED, STATE PERMITTING REMAINS At the request of opponents of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, the US Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday announced it will tack 45 more days onto the comment period for its environmental review of the proposed project. With the extension, the 105-day comment period will now end on Feb. 24, 2005. Supporters of the project were buoyed by the Nov. 9 release of the Army Corps’ draft environmental impact statement on the project, which prompted project opponents to ask for a longer comment period. The extension was requested by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the state’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the Cape Cod Commission and US Rep. William Delahunt (D-Quincy), who represents the area affected by the proposed project. Cape Wind Associates hopes to address regional energy needs by installing and operating 130 offshore wind turbine generators in the sound. Critics say the project is environmentally unfriendly and will compromise the sound’s integrity and hurt tourism. In a statement, the Army Corps said the extension will allow local, state and federal permitting processes to be "synchronized as much as possible." Corps officials said decisions remain to be made at the state level, including the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Office. Public hearings are scheduled in Martha’s Vineyard (Dec. 6), West Yarmouth (Dec. 7), Nantucket (Dec. 8), and Cambridge (Dec. 16). Here are the dates, locations and times. 12/6 Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Edgartwon Road Oak Bluffs Registration: 5 P.M.; Hearing, 6-10 P.M. 12/7 Mattacheese Middle School 400 Higgins-Crowell Road WYAR Reg. 6:00; Hearing 7-11 12/8 Nantucket Community School 10 Surfside Road, Mary P. Walker Auditorium ACK Reg. 5:00; Hearing 6-10 12/16 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue Room 10-250 Cambridge Reg. 6:00; Hearing 7-11 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
