You asked for background information on the Cape Wind project.

CAPE WIND PROJECT

The proposed project would be the first offshore wind energy park in the United States. It would be built on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, five miles off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The project would consist of 130 wind turbines, a centrally located electric services platform, and associated transmission cables and equipment. The hub of each turbine would be approximately 262 feet above sea level, and each rotor would be 341 feet long. The maximum height of the turbine, including the rotor, would be 417 feet. The project would have a total maximum output of 420 megawatts.   In average conditions the wind park would produce 170 megawatts, enough electricity to power three-quarters of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket islands.

The project is subject to approval by various federal and state agencies. In December 2001, the US Army Corps of Engineers determined that the project would require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Since then, the Army Corps has been coordinating a comprehensive permitting and review process that involves more than 15 local, state, and federal agencies. The Army Corps’ website for the project is http: //www. nae. usace. army. mil/projects/ma/ccwf/windfarm. htm

Among the specific issues that the EIS will address are the project’s effect on birds, including endangered and threatened species; marine mammals; shellfish resources; commercial and recreational fisheries; air and water quality; as well as the project’s visual impacts. On November 8, 2004, the Army Corps of Engineers released the draft EIS. The 3,800 page document is available at http: //www. nae. usace. army. mil/projects/ma/ccwf/deis. htm. The draft EIS also addresses issues identified by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the Cape Cod Commission as part of the reviews that they will conduct.

The project’s developer, Energy Management Inc. , is headquartered in Boston. Its website for the project is http: //www. capewind. org. The Alliance to Save Nantucket Sound is a major critic of the project. Its website is http: //www. saveoursound. org/home. aspx.

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