Winergy Cape Project Faces Skeptics

The controversial Capewind Project off the coast of Nantucket now has some company - seems that a proposal from Winergy is also headed for "stormy seas" as described
here in this piece entitled Preservation Group Wary of Wind Farm by Joshua Balling of the Inquirer and Mirror. According to the article, the proposed project location may adversly affect historical and archeologically sensitive areas:

In a letter dated Feb. 20, Brona Simon, deputy state historic preservation officer with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for information on the potential of a data collection tower associated with the project “to adversely affect properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places . . . specifically a visual analysis of the proposed effects on the character and setting of Nantucket Island both during the daytime and the nighttime. The whole of Nantucket Island is in the State and National Registers of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. The Island of Nantucket must be given special consideration.

The project may be archeologically sensitive for drowned ancient Native American sites. The project area is likely to contain historic period shipwrecks. MHC requests that an archeological reconnaissance survey be conducted for the project area by a qualified archeologist with a specialization in underwater archeological survey. The purpose of the reconnaissance is to identify archeologically sensitive areas within the project area that will require further assessment to identify and evaluate any important archeological resources that may be affected by the proposed project.

The article also made mention of exclusive three year leases that Winergy had secured from the Corps. That's, well... curious, considering our prior post here describing the Corps' issuance of a clarification that the Corps' authority to issue a permit did not confer property interests on a licensee. If that's true, who's feeding the "lease" story to the media?

Long Island Offshore Project in the NY Times

Here's a brief clip from the New York Times on the Long Island Power Authority's request for proposals for an wind farm off to be located off the coast of Long Island. We previously reported on the project in an earlier post here.