December 10, 2013
New York

Cape Vincent still waiting for wind power answers

WWNY TV 7 | Dec 10, 2013 | www.wwnytv.com

If you’re from Cape Vincent – whether you’re for wind power or against it – you know the issue is pitting neighbor against neighbor and hurting the community.

“It’s like the white elephant in the room with you all the time,” Elizabeth Brennan said. “It’s just been very, very difficult.

That’s why over 100 concerned residents packed the gym at Cape Vincent Elementary hoping to find out the status of the BP wind project.

Many hoped that after almost a decade of arguing, there would soon be an answer.

They found out the nightmare could go on for a very long time.

“Us here in Cape Vincent, we’ve been dealing with wind development for upwards of 8 to 10 years,” town councilman John Byrne said, “and we still don’t have an answer.

Right now, BP owns the project and hopes to sell it to another company. That means no one in the community knows whether the project is a go or a no-go.

There is no deadline for when a decision has to be made to go forward with the project.

BP has been using something called Article X to try to get the wind project approved and underway. That brings the state into the equation, so two administrative judges came to address a number of letters written to the state about the project.

At the end of it all, most of the concerns had to do with why this is taking so long.

“And that’s our concern that as the local representatives here in Cape Vincent,” Byrne said, “because you have lease-holders that have a stake in this as well as the rest of the community has a stake in it in the sense that they might feel that it’s a threat.”

Residents could be waiting for a long time to find out what is going to happen.

The administrative judges will check in with community leaders in March to see if anything is changed – unless BP can find a buyer before then.

BP had hoped to sell the project by the end of December, but isn’t likely to meet that deadline.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/12/10/cape-vincent-still-waiting-for-wind-power-answers/