SouthCoast Wind is responding to litigation by the Town of Nantucket appealing federal approval of the offshore wind farm planned for waters 20 miles south of the island.
The CEO of SouthCoast Wind, Michael Brown, told CAI the federal review was rigorous with regard to Nantucket’s concerns for environmental and historic preservation.
The wind farm’s parent company, Ocean Winds, remains confident in the thoroughness of the process, he said.
SouthCoast Wind is still awaiting some permits but received its main federal approval in December.
The town is appealing, saying the approval violated federal law by failing to address harm it contends would come to Nantucket’s historic district and economy.
The entire island is a National Historic Landmark District.
Tourism on the island is based on that status, said Nantucket Select Board Chair Brooke Mohr.
“Any negative impact to that impacts everybody up and down the community, wage earners all the way up to property owners.” she said. “The impact of this goes far beyond people who own property here.”
The town filed an appeal last week in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, citing as defendants Secretary of the Interior Douglas Burgum, the Department of the Interior, and the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The court issued a summons Friday giving Burgum 60 days to respond.
Mohr said to her, mitigating any damage to the town’s historic character and seascape would require a change of plans.
“I mean, mitigation to me is just fewer darn turbines out there, whatever that means ... whether that's not approving this project or not approving this many projects,” she said.
SouthCoast Wind would have up to 141 turbines in a designated area that starts 20 miles south of Nantucket.
Final permits for the wind farm remain in limbo following President Trump’s executive order of January 20th, halting permitting for offshore wind.
In September, SouthCoast Wind was selected for Massachusetts and Rhode Island power-purchase contracts totaling 1,287 megawatts.
Contracts were scheduled to be signed Monday, but both states announced they will delay contract execution until June 30.
This is the third delay since the presidential election and the fifth change from the original date listed in the Request for Proposals, which was Aug. 14 of last year.
