February 27, 2008

 

Dear Minerals Management Services,

 

I’m writing to comment on the Cape Wind Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Project ID number: PLN-GOM-003).

 

As an Environmentalist, I recognize that wind is one option that can provide a clean and effective source of energy, which can be used as a valuable tool in the fight against global warming while increasing our nations energy independence.

 

However, while researching this particular project, I’ve come to learn that not all wind projects are created equal.  I’m writing to voice my opposition the Cape Wind Project.

 

In my opinion, species biodiversity and critical habitat loss is an equally important issue that our nation (and the world) faces today- an issue that like global warming will also have a devastating affect on our environment and our health.

 

Generally, I would support a project such as this, especially seeing that clean energy would have a significant impact on preserving sensitive habitat, which would indirectly benefit species in danger of declining to the point of no return.  However, the Cape Wind Project is different because it has not been properly sited and the potential impacts not thoroughly studied.  These turbines would be placed offshore directly within a migratory bird flyway.

 

Some of the birds that would be caught traveling directly in the path of these massive blades have already been determined by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program to be in grave danger in terms of population numbers, such as the Piping Plover, Roseate Tern, Common Tern and Least Tern.  Birds such as these travel in concentrated numbers while foraging and during migration and pass directly through the path of the proposed turbines, often during the night.  Since the reproduction rates of these species are generally low, avoiding adult mortality is fundamental in terms of keeping these already vulnerable populations viable. 

 

And it’s not just our state-listed species that are at risk of being destroyed by the multitude of turbines located directly within this migratory flyway.  The majority of northeast North America’s neo-tropical migrants use this flyway in migration, again often at night. In addition, please consider the following information I recently received from an organization called Birders United titled: “Sharp Rise in Bird Deaths at Major California Windfarm”:

 

“A study conducted by wildlife biologists at the University of California at Santa Cruz found that the number of birds killed by flying into wind turbines at the Altamont Pass windfarm in northern California increased by a whopping 90 percent between September 2006 and September 2007. The study estimated that as many as 2,900 golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, burrowing owls, and American kestrels were killed. The new numbers are particularly alarming because windfarm operators have taken steps to reduce bird deaths such as halting operations during peak migratory periods and shutting down turbines where large numbers of bird collisions have occurred.”

I am also concerned with potential impacts to other species besides birds.  It is my understanding that these turbines will create a constant low frequency humming sound underneath the water.  The impact of these frequencies upon marine mammals that are inherently very sensitive to these frequencies is uncertain at best.  I think it would be poor environmental stewardship to move forward without knowing, definitively what this impact would be.

 

The project proponents and ultimate financial beneficiaries of this project, have invested quite a lot of money into making this project a reality: including resorting to some aggressive and offensive displays of propaganda belittling any opposition.  For your information, although I live in Massachusetts, I do not live anywhere near Cape Cod (nor do I vacation on the Cape), and the visual impact these turbines will have on the ocean landscape is of no concern to me.

 

In my opinion, there is substantial potential to significantly impact the already limited breeding success of these at-risk birds, as well as other non-listed, but declining species, and I just can’t justify supporting this project when there are other equally effective energy-alternative options that exist.  In my opinion the risks of the Cape Wind project outweigh the benefits in this particular circumstance. Please consider an alternative means of producing clean energy for this region, which could include properly sited wind farms that won’t cause such significant harm to at-risk wildlife populations, which are also a valuable resource.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jenna Garvey

PO Box 422

Hardwick, MA  01037