Wind Advisory

However, despite the noise from the press and the environmental community, lots of very rational people have lots of very rational questions about the Cape Wind project. Until they start getting some answers they'd be irrational and imprudent not to oppose.

Among entities alleged by the press and Green groups to be "irrational," fronting for Big Coal, and defending "yachting" is the United States Department of the Interior, which complains that "the DEIS is at best incomplete, and too often inaccurate and/or misleading."

Another is the US Environmental Protection Agency, which officially rates the DEIS as "inadequate" and whose regional director remarks: "We do not believe an adequate mitigation or monitoring plan can be developed, nor can a decision be made as to whether the project is environmentally acceptable and in the public interest."

The New England Fishery Management Council charges that the DEIS "relies on outdated data for the bulk of the fishery analysis." And that it "suffers from the presentation of incomplete or conflicting data, a reliance on superficial analyses, and the absence of data on private recreational fishing activity and its contribution to the economy. For instance, as presented in the DEIS, the characterization of the recreational fisheries in Nantucket Sound underestimates the amount of effort expended and fails to characterize the financial contribution made to the economies of Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard by these fishermen."

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries notes: "Assertions that mobile finfish and invertebrates will simply move to other parts of the sound with no disruption of their life history during construction of the Cape Wind facility are not supported by the DEIS. Substantial changes may occur in spawning, feeding, and juvenile development of the affected species and these changes may have far-reaching impacts on fisheries in other states as well as impacts on more local species, including birds, that rely upon them for food." And the division charges that "no effort was made by the applicant to obtain comprehensive, representative, site-specific resource or habitat data" and that "the overall level of information provided in the DEIS is inadequate to properly evaluate the potential environmental impacts of this large and precedent-setting project." According to this allegedly "irrational" source, "this project may have substantial, even significant, impacts to fisheries resources, habitat, and harvest activities in Nantucket Sound."

And this warning from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: "If the project is allowed to go through, the potential for post-construction exclusion of fishermen from the project site is very high for the following reasons: All access could become restricted for security. . . . Most recreational fishermen are not used to handling boats in strong eddies and would be at risk of collision with the bases of the turbines and other boats."

A poll by the University of Massachusetts--commissioned by the Cape and Islands National Public Radio stations and The Cape Cod Times--reveals that residents are about split on the issue. It's clear that the nays, which outnumber the yeas by two percent, don't all own yachts, and it's a major stretch to believe they're all irrational. Moreover, Dr. Clyde Barrow, who headed the polling project, reports no significant differences by party, income or age.

Finally, speaking for himself and not Stripers Forever, which he directs, the eminently rational and sea-savvy Brad Burns told me this: "There'll be no fund to remove all that crap if it turns out to be obsolete. Nobody should feel guilty about wondering about this project. I look at it as I look at dams. These rivers are public property, and certainly the ocean is. And if someone's going to harness this area for private gain, the public has a real right to public scrutiny."

Burns has it right. Although a decommissioning bond will be required, it has never been clear how it will be funded or how much it will be or if it will even be adequate, especially if the project has a shorter-than-expected operating life.

As a boat angler who haunts Nantucket Sound, I'm especially concerned about its fish resources. Yet whenever I have sought solace from Cape Wind and the Corps in the form of cogent answers to my questions, I've gotten only what they hope to harness--wind. For example, I have been told repeatedly by both sources that the turbines, which will be driven into the sea bed of the Sound's best rips, will "improve" my fishing because fish congregate around such structures. I suppose this might be true if I could stomach fishing in an industrial park and if I chased bottom feeders with bait instead of fast-moving pelagics with flies. But, like so many assumptions made by Cape Wind and the Corps, the notion that concentrating fish is a good thing has no basis in fact. For example, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission issues this warning: "The potential for turbines and/or associated lighting to increase the prey base of fish-eating birds at the project site needs to be assessed. This increased lighting may lead to unnaturally high concentrations of these species in the area and increase the risk of collision fatalities, particularly among aerial divers. . . . Increased prey could [also] result in abnormally high densities of sea turtles and marine mammals in the project area and may interfere with their migratory movement and behavior patterns by prolonging their stay. Moreover, if turbines enhance fish populations at the project site, it is likely that recreational and commercial fishing effort (and traffic) will increase in the area as well. This may put sea turtles and marine mammals at greater risk of incidental capture in fishing gear and/or getting struck by boats."