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Deepwater Wind critic alleges mishandling of public hearings
Credit: By Kaylen Auer, PBN Web Editor | Providence Business News | 7/22/14 | pbn.com ~~
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Translate: FROM English | TO English
Robert W. Shields, chairman of Narragansett-based political action committee Deepwater Resistance, has filed a complaint in R.I. Superior Court against the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and Deepwater Wind LLC, claiming the CRMC did not adequately review the economic impact of the proposed Block Island Wind Farm and mishandled public hearings on the matter.
The complaint filed on July 11 centers on Shields’ testimony at a CRMC subcommittee hearing on Feb. 27, when he alleges the subcommittee members prevented him and two other individuals from testifying on the potential negative economic impact of the wind farm, while proponents of Deepwater Wind were allowed to comment on project costs and economics without interruption.
“This wind farm proposal is without a doubt the most far reaching matter ever to come before the CRMC,” Shields wrote in the complaint. “Since the very first [R.I. Public Utilities Commission] hearing on this proposal in 2010, the process has revealed every indication of having been fast tracked by the executive, legislative and regulatory agencies of state government to the detriment of adequate review and scrutiny.”
Shields maintains that the CRMC is obligated to hear and evaluate socioeconomic testimony, and that in failing to do so the agency violated the stipulations of its own Ocean Special Area Management Plan regulations and neglected due diligence on the matter of the Block Island Wind Farm.
Furthermore, Shields states, the CRMC violated his own civil liberties by blocking his full testimony at the public hearings.
In his complaint, Shields asks the court to mandate that the CRMC draft a new staff report on the Block Island Wind Farm including the socioeconomic impact of the project, and also to require that Deepwater Wind amend its operational plan to correct “ambiguities” and add turbine operating data that will inform a new round of hearings that Shields requests be held.
Laura Dwyer, a spokeswoman for the CRMC, said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation but is reviewing Shields’ appeal. Deepwater Wind has advised the CRMC that they would like to schedule a conference with the judge to determine scheduling, and the CRMC will also be there to enter an appearance, Dwyer said.
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