By Shawn Gaynor

Jan. 21 (GNT) – Last Friday the federal Minerals Management Service concluded its final environmental impact statement, giving its approval of the Cape Wind energy project on Horseshoe Shoal off the New England Coast.

Image courtesy of Cape Wind.

With 130 turbines each towering above the ocean on a massive 440 foot tall tower, the project will represent the first industrial-scale offshore wind project in the US once it is completed.

The MMS study concludes seven years of government examination of the project’s impacts, and finds no threat to wildlife in the region.

“This report validates the project will create new jobs, increase energy independence and fight global warming while being a good neighbor to the ecosystem of Nantucket Sound,” said the project’s developer, Jim Gordon.

Now that the project has cleared this regulatory hurdle, government leasing for the project should begin in the next 30 days.

The turbines of the Cape Wind project will be capable of generating up to 420 megawatts of renewable electricity — enough to meet the energy needs of 420,000 homes. The project is expected to produce an average of 170 megawatts of electricity at any given time, about 75 percent of the average electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket island combined.

The switch to wind power will reduce the area’s carbon-dioxide emissions by an estimated 880,000 tones per year, the same amount produced by roughly 175,000 cars.

The new project will also reduce reliance on the area’s current power plant, the Mirant Canal Generating Plant, a bunker fuel fired station which has been at the center of two major oil spills.

On Dec. 15, 1976 the tanker Argo spilled 7.7 million gallons of oil after running aground southeast of Nantucket. In April of 2003, 98,000 gallons of oil was spilled after a Bouchard Company fuel barge ran aground in route to the Mirant Canal Generating Plant. That spill shutdown 100,000 acres of shell fishing beds.

But the project has had some heavy local resistance, from residents who say the windmills being in view of shore-side communities will ruin the area’s tourist industry.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), has long opposed the project, and responded to the report in a statement writing, “I do not believe that this action by the Interior Department will be sustained. By taking this action, the Interior Department has virtually assured years of continued public conflict and contentious litigation.”

The project has seen a warm reception from many environmental groups who have criticized the length of the review process.

“We are excited to finally see a first-of-its-kind, utility-scale offshore wind project powering American homes and businesses. This facility shows we can repower America, and we can start today,” stated Nathanael Greene, senior energy policy specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“After more than seven years of state and federal review — much longer than a traditional coal power plant is ever reviewed — Cape Wind has proven that its benefits will far outweigh its impacts.”

The project could cause tensions for the Obama administration as one of the president’s most championed issues lines him up against one of his strongest allies in the Senate.

GreenNewsToday.org