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The NewsRoom
Release: #3799
Date: March 11, 2008
MMS
to Move Public Hearing on Cape Wind
Energy Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Boston Hearing Relocated to Clark Athletic Center
WASHINGTON
– The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service
(MMS) has moved its Boston, Massachusetts, March 13, 2008, public
hearing from the Campus Center Ballroom at the University of
Massachusetts to the Clark Athletic Center at the university to
accommodate a larger crowd that is expected to attend the event. The
public hearing will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is designed to obtain
public comment on the recently published Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the Cape Wind Energy Project.
The
draft EIS is available for review online.
The Cape Wind Energy Project would
be comprised of 130 wind turbine generators that could generate a
maximum electric output of 468 megawatts and an average output of
182.6 megawatts. The project is proposed to be located in Nantucket
Sound off the coast of Massachusetts.
Registration for those wishing
to speak during the public hearing will begin one hour before the
hearing starts at the Clark Athletic Center. MMS is also accepting
written comments through April 21st. Comments may be submitted using
the online comment
form at under “projects open for comment.”
All comments, whether
delivered in person at the hearings, via e-mail, or by regular mail,
receive the same weight in MMS’s evaluation.
The Draft EIS provides a
description of the proposed action, including the construction,
operation, maintenance, and decommissioning phases. A detailed
analysis of the impacts of the proposed action on specific resources
is presented in the document. The Draft EIS considers all reasonable
alternatives to the proposed action, including a no action
alternative. Seven alternatives are analyzed in detail in the Draft
EIS: the proposed action at Horseshoe Shoal, no action, a smaller
configuration at Horseshoe Shoal, phased development at Horseshoe
Shoal, a condensed array at Horseshoe Shoal, or alternative sites at
Monomoy Shoals and south of Tuckernuck Island. Following public
comment, MMS will publish a Final EIS this Fall.
The DEIS is not an approval or
disapproval for the project. Rather it is an evaluation tool used in
the decision making process.
Comments may also be submitted
by mail to:
MMS Cape Wind Energy Project
TRC Environmental Corporation, Wannalancit Mills
650 Suffolk Street
Lowell, Massachusetts 01854.
Under authority of the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of
2005, MMS will regulate alternative energy projects and alternate use
of facilities on the OCS. Examples include, but are not
limited to, wind energy, wave energy, ocean current energy, solar
energy, and hydrogen production. Alternate uses of existing
facilities may include, but are not limited to, offshore aquaculture,
research, education, recreation, and support for offshore operations
and facilities.
Contact:
Nicolette Nye
703-623-9082
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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Last Updated:
05/27/2008,
03:45 PM
Central Time
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