The Coast Guard’s report on Cape Wind’s potential effects on radar and navigation is off the immediate radar, postponed by congressional request, until Jan. 15.
However, the Coast Guard will reveal the results, for expert comment, to a select group of stakeholders this week.
“The amount of public comment this project has had is – amazing! I don’t have a word to describe it,” declared Barbara Hill Executive Director of Clean Power Now, a Cape Wind supporter. “Does one more [comment period] matter? How many times has this happened over the course of all these years? But politicians have managed to insert themselves into the project, to comment on it and they’ve tried to stop it but have not won at any of these junctures.”
The report will be submitted to the Minerals and Management Service for inclusion in the final Environmental Impact Statement that would be released at least 30 days prior to granting Cape Wind a lease in Nantucket Sound.
U.S. Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota wrote Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard Dec. 9, “requesting that the Coast Guard delay any recommendation to the Department of Interior, Minerals and Management Service until such time as 1) the report is completed, 2) the report is publicly available to all interested parties, and 3) that the public has a minimum of 60 days to review and comment on the study.”
The Coast Guard had planned to release the report Monday Dec. 15.
“We have no idea why a congressman from Minnesota would become involved at this point in time,” Hill pondered. “I’m reminded of Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens in ‘05 and ‘06 when Don Young was chairman of the same committee. They were trying to, from our perspective, lean on the Coast Guard.”
Oberstar, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said he wanted a more thorough review.
“I have learned that the Commander of Sector Southeast New England briefed interested stakeholders on the results of the study on Friday Dec. 5, with comments due by Monday Dec. 8. But the Sector had yet to receive the completed study, and has not release(d) the study for public review as I requested,” he wrote.
As a result the Coast guard will extend the comment period.
“The technical service corporation that the Coast Guard hired to conduct the radar study will be presenting the findings to members of the Harbor Safety Security Forum of Southeastern Massachusetts as well as participants in the October workshop Dec. 18 at a meeting,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell explained.
If space is available members of the public may attend but this will not be a meeting for public comment.
“Once the findings are published by the Minerals Management Service in the final Environmental Impact Statement then the public will have the opportunity to comment on these findings,” Terrell said. “The coast Guard will submit the report by Jan. 15.”
That comment period will prior to the record of the decision, 30 days after the release of the EIS.
“Connecting the dots — obviously they are trying to delay the process from moving forward and the process deserves to be considered on its own merits, to move forward on its own merits and not have political interference,” Hill said.
“We’ll be one more month into climate change. We’re continuing to depend on fossil fuels, and look at the job market,” she said.
However the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound believes the Coast Guard was rushing the results.
“We thought that the MMS was taking shortcuts and they were pressuring agencies like the Coast Guard to rush their recommendations so we think this was a necessary step to assure that a reasonable process was in place to assure navigational safety in Nantucket Sound,” declared Alliance Executive Director Audra Parker.
The Coast Guard report is reportedly favorable to the project
“Based on it’s recommendations the Cape Wind project is ‘doable’ with fairly minor educational modifications,” Hill said. “Then Oberstar writes this letter. The only reason I can imagine is these are recommendations the opposition doesn’t want put into the final report. How can the public weigh in on a radar study? Don’t we trust the Coast Guard? Don’t we trust the MMS or do we only trust those conclusions we want?”
Parker contends the conclusions need examination and a critique.
“This is an opportunity for stakeholders to view the complete report and provide comment on it,” she said. “The previous process was a clear example of the pressure MMS was putting on agencies to get the lease approval on Cape Wind in the current administration. We should not risk public safety for an arbitrary deadline.”
“It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of money. There is no merit in delaying this project. It doesn’t pass the smell test,” she concluded.
The Register
