December 29, 2010
Massachusetts

Buffer zone enlarges Cape Wind’s footprint

PATRICK CASSIDY Cape Cod Times, www.capecodonline.com 29 December 2010

A notice filed in the Federal Register on Tuesday caused some confusion about the size of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm.

The announcement of the 56-page lease signed by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind Associates LLC, describes the project as covering 29,426 acres, which equals slightly less than 46 square miles.

The company and previous government documents have indicated the project would cover 25 square miles.

The discrepancy is caused by the inclusion of a buffer zone where other development is prohibited, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement spokeswoman Blossom Robinson said.

“The actual area that the project will occupy is 25 square miles,” she said, adding that her agency does not regulate fishing and therefore will not restrict fishing in the buffer zone or among the turbines.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/12/29/buffer-zone-enlarges-cape-winds-footprint/