The NewsRoom
Release: #3762
Date: January 14, 2008
MMS Publishes Cape Wind Energy Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Public Hearings Scheduled
WASHINGTON
– The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) filed
the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Cape Wind
Energy Project with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on
Friday, January 11th.
The DEIS is available for review online. The MMS will begin
accepting comments on the DEIS on Friday, January 18, 2008 when a
Notice of Availability for the DEIS is published in the Federal
Register (52.29 KB PDF file). The DEIS was made available online earlier than usual to
allow interested parties time to review the nearly 2,000 page
document. Written comments will be accepted beginning January 18,
2008 through March 20, 2008, and MMS will also hold public hearings on
the document in March of 2008.
The DEIS considered 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, no action, a smaller configuration, phased development, a
condensed array at Horseshoe Shoal site in Nantucket Sound, or
alternative sites at Monomoy Shoals and south of Tuckernuck Island.
“The draft environmental impact statement is a
crucial step forward in completing our review of the
Cape Wind Energy Project,” said
MMS
Director Randall Luthi. “Cape Wind is the first offshore wind
energy project to come before MMS for review, and public input is a
critical element of the review process. I encourage the public to
submit written comments on the draft or provide input at the upcoming
hearings. Every input will receive the same weight.”
Public hearings on the DEIS will
be held at the following locations:
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Monday, March 10, 2008 at Mattacheese Middle School
Auditorium in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts at 6:00 p.m.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at
Nantucket High School Auditorium in
Nantucket, Massachusetts at 5:00 p.m.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at Martha's Vineyard Regional High
School Auditorium in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts at 5:00 p.m.
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Thursday, March 13, 2008, at Campus Center
Ballroom, University of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts at
6:00 p.m. |
MMS will begin accepting written
comments on the DEIS for 60 days beginning on Friday, January 18, 2008
when the Notice of Availability of the DEIS is published in the
Federal Register.
Comments may be submitted using
the online comment
form under “projects open for comment,” however; the online
commenting form will not be accessible until
Friday, January 18, 2008.
Comments may also be submitted
by mail to:
MMS Cape Wind Energy
Project
TRC Environmental Corporation, Wannalancit Mills
650 Suffolk Street
Lowell, Massachusetts 01854.
To
obtain a single printed or CD-ROM copy of the DEIS, you may e-mail
capewind@mms.gov or write:
The Minerals Management Service
Environmental Assessment Branch (MS 4042)
381 Elden Street
Herndon,
Virginia, 20170
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.
Media Contact:
Nicolette Nye
703-787-1011
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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Last Updated:
05/27/2008,
04:05 PM
Central Time
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