August 6, 2014
Rhode Island

Shields files lawsuit against CRMC, Deepwater Wind

By KENDRA LOLIO | Southern Rhode Island Newspapers | August 5, 2014 | www.ricentral.com

NARRAGANSETT – In light recent public hearings by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council and the Ocean Special Area Management Plan Subcommittee that allegedly did not follow the council’s own regulations, Narragansett resident and chair of Deepwater Resistance, a Rhode Island political action committee, Robert Shields, has filed a formal complaint with the state Superior Court.
The complaint comes as a result of the original proposal by Deepwater Wind, LLC to construct a 30-megawatt wind farm 3 miles southeast of Block Island.
Public hearings for the project were held Feb. 4, 24, and 27 of this year. According to Shield’s complaint, filed on July 11, 2014, the subcommittee violated its own regulations whenChair Anne Livingston and council member Donald Gomez repeatedly interrupted Shields’ testimony in opposition to the project, claiming that his discussion of the financial impacts were not relevant or within their jurisdiction. According to Shields’ complaint report, he attempted to speak at multiple hearings afterward on the subcommittee’s failure to allow public comment on the net economic impact statewide, the engineering deficiencies of Deepwater Wind’s proposal, and the failure of the CRMC staff report to address various technical problems with Deepwater Wind’s proposal. Shield’s said that although the committee asked him to not comment on anything regarding the project’s economics, he felt there were strong financial implications that would negatively impact the community.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/08/06/shields-files-lawsuit-against-crmc-deepwater-wind/