After Years of Debate, Cape Wind Project Approved

BOSTON--In a groundbreaking decision that some say will usher in a new era of clean energy, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the nation's first offshore wind farm today off Cape Cod, a person briefed on the decision said this morning.

Salazar is expected to announced his decision at noon at a joint State House news conference with Governor Deval Patrick after nine years of controversy over the proposal.

Several other sources with knowledge of the wind farm project said they expected Salazar to announce approval of the project. The governor is to be briefed by the secretary at 11:30 a.m., a source said.

The decision has been delayed for almost a year because of two Wampanoag tribes’ complaints that the turbines, which would stand more than 400 feet above the ocean surface, would disturb spiritual sun greetings and possibly ancestral artifacts and burial grounds on the seabed, which was once exposed land before the sea level rose thousands of years ago.

Supporters have long said an approval would be a giant step forward for renewable energy efforts in the country, while opponents have said they would seek to kill the project through legal action. The project, if it is not held up by lawsuits, could begin construction within the year.

The project has undergone years of environmental review and political maneuvering, including opposition from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose home overlooks Nantucket Sound. While opponents' main concern is aesthetics -- the turbines would be visible low on the horizon from the Cape and Islands -- the battle was fought by raising other issues, including possible effects on property values and harm to birds, fishing, aviation, and historic and cultural sites.

Horseshoe Shoals, the part of Nantucket Sound where the wind farm is proposed, is widely considered the best place along the East Coast to build a wind farm. That's in part because the site is in shallow, sheltered waters close to shore -- the nearest beach is five miles away. But it is also because it is in federal waters: Political will to build such a massive wind farm in state waters three miles from shore does not exist.

Cape Wind Associates said the wind farm could produce enough wind power to handle three-quarters of the electric needs of the Cape and Islands. The price of its electricity is expected to be higher than conventional power. The company is still in negotiations with National Grid, the utility, that has agreed to purchase some of the power the farm produces.

US Senator Scott Brown criticized Salazar's decision, saying it was "misguided."

"“With unemployment hovering near ten percent in Massachusetts, the Cape Wind project will jeopardize industries that are vital to the Cape’s economy, such as tourism and fishing, and will also impact aviation safety and the rights of the Native American tribes in the area. I am also skeptical about the cost-savings and job number predictions we have heard from proponents of the project," Brown said in a statement.

But George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, hailed the decision, saying it was "a critical step toward ending our reliance on foreign oil and achieving energy independence. "

"Those who continue to resist and litigate are simply on the wrong side of history," he said.