The Cape Wind offshore wind project propsed for a section of Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts has another obstacle to overcome.
The National Park Service (NPS) Monday announced the decision by its Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places that Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts is eligible for listing in the National Register for its significance as a traditional cultural property and as an historic and archeological property.
The US Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service must now take the listing into consideration in reviewing the permitting of the project.
The NPS announcement notes that Nantucket Sound is a "significant
and distinguishable entity" integral to the folklife traditions of theWampanoags–a subset of New Englands’ Algonquin Nation.
According to an Associated Press story, two tribes–the Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag–asked federal officials to provide protection for the Sound to preserve sacred rituals requiring an unblocked view of the sunrise. The tribes also say their ancestors’ remains are buried on Horseshoe Shoal, where the turbines would be built.
Cape Wind Associates LLC also continues to face opposition from well-heeled property owners along the Massachusetts coast, despite opinion polls showing a majority of the state’s residents support the project, which would be capable of supplying up to 420 megawatts of clean power to the grid.
The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound released a statement in support of the NPS finding. In it they claim the 25-square-mile project would create a navigation hazard for boaters and airplane pilots, ruin productive fishing grounds, endanger birds and marine life, and devastate the scenic beauty of Cape Cod and the Islands.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who must approve any federal permit for the project said Monday he will bring together principal parties next week in an effort to reach a "commonsense agreement." He said if a compromise cannot be reached by March 1 he is "prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion."
Cape Wind recenlty negotiated a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the New England utility National Grid.
The project has already completed state and local permitting.
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