BOSTON, Massachusetts, October 9, 2002 (ENS) - A federal judge in Boston has denied a motion to block construction of a 197 foot high data collection tower, the first step in building a controversial wind farm in the waters off Cape Cod. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro rejected the request, filed by the Ten Taxpayers Citizen Group, for a preliminary injunction against the tower. The citizens group had argued that the tower would do irreparable environmental harm, and charged that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated federal law in issuing developer Cape Wind Associates a permit to build the tower on Horseshoe Shoal.
"This is a legal victory for Cape and Massachusetts citizens who want to fully and fairly explore the potential of offshore wind energy," said James Gordon, president of Cape Wind.
The data tower will collect information on wind direction, velocity and turbulence, water currents and turbulence, and wave heights. The collected data will be used by Cape Wind to develop an environmental impact statement regarding the potential effects of the planned wind power project.
The Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound would be the largest offshore wind energy industrial complex in the world, providing, on average, half of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands. It would include about 170 turbines, reaching more than 200 feet above the sea, in a 28 square mile grid
Critics of the wind farm say not enough is known about the project's potential effects on sea birds, turtles and other area wildlife. International Wildlife Coalition executive director Daniel Morast said what little is known about the potential impacts of such a project is not encouraging.
"From the standpoint of the fishery and wildlife which migrate through Nantucket Sound, this project could have devastating impact," said Morast. "Wind generation may be benign as a general concept, but constructing an industrial complex with 170 towers that exceed the Statue of Liberty in height may not be a benign experience for the fish and wildlife that call that this area home."
The project area on Horseshoe Shoal is a common summering area for endangered turtles such as leatherbacks, loggerheads and green turtles. The area is frequented by gray and harbor seals, white-sided dolphins, harbor porpoises, right whales, humpback whales and minke whales.
The wind farm would be constructed in an area designated as essential for fish habitats under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act (FCMA) because a number of species, including squid, flounder, sea bass, flounder, stripe bass and blue fish, spawn in the area.
More than 500,000 birds are found during migration in the Nantucket Shoals area because it is in the middle of the Atlantic flyway, a major East Coast migratory pathway for birds that could be harmed by the operation of the 170 turbine propellers.
"Studies of other wind farms internationally have raised concerns about adverse impacts on wildlife that were discovered only after the construction," said Sharon Young, marine issues director for the Humane Society of the United States. "Environmental groups want to see a proactive study rather than retrospective regret."
While Judge Tauro said the motion failed to meet the criteria for an injunction, including legal standing in court, likelihood of success at trial and proof of irreparable harm, the lawsuit by Ten Taxpayer Citizens Group will proceed, as will a similar suit filed by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.:
