October 12, 2010
Massachusetts, Opinions

A sweetheart deal, but not for us

By Christy Mihos, Cape Cod Times, www.capecodonline.com 12 October 2010

For nine years the fight over the siting of an industrial power plant in the pristine waters of Nantucket Sound has been all-consuming for many. As a member of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound board, I’ve been proud to be involved in the fight, because once the Sound is gone, it’s gone forever. All too many have given up since the U.S. secretary of the Interior deemed it a done deal. Not me, nor many of the people who have become aware of what this industrial power plant has in store for Cape Cod, the Islands and the people of Massachusetts.

As stated in Cape Wind’s disclosures, the project will take seven years to build, constructed in 17 phases. Pile-driving concrete foundations into the bed of Nantucket Sound would take years. If the concrete is not perfectly cured, then the foundation for the turbines would be in jeopardy. Projects in Europe have been plagued with problems – corroded bearings, failed transformers and faulty equipment.

Too often I remember the promises of Big Dig contractors who assured us that the slurry wall construction on the Big Dig tunnels was perfect. Years later, we have a million gallons of water leaking into the Tip O’Neill tunnel and 5,000 loads of suspect concrete and a project with myriad systemic problems.

But seven years of planned construction in a national treasure that is the engine of Cape Cod’s economy and a big contributor to the Massachusetts economy as well – can you imagine the effect upon tourists hearing the pounding into the ocean floor each hour of every day?

Tourism is what we do. Protecting what we have is who we are. The absurd cost of this project, the billion dollars in state and federal funds and loan guarantees that taxpayers will provide for Jim Gordon’s sweetheart deal, is something to behold. That Gordon has the governor, attorney general and the feds in his back pocket is breathtaking. At a time when government yearns for openness and transparency, critical information and due process be damned to this gang.

Remember the promise that Cape Wind would power up to 75 percent of Cape Cod’s utility needs and save us money? It’s just another joke played on us; it won’t. All the power generated will be sold off-Cape to ratepayers who don’t have a clue as to how much they would have to pay for this neo-Big Dig.

They make this stuff up as they go along. Anything for political correctness; anything for a buck, anybody for a buck. It’s all about the bucks.

At least Tim Cahill, Charlie Baker and Jill Stein see it for what it is – a sweetheart deal for the insiders, but certainly not for you.