The Massachusetts town of Nantucket has appealed the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s permit for Ocean Winds’ up to 2400MW SouthCoast Wind project.
The project received approval for its construction and operations plan in the dying days of the administration of Joe Biden.
Massachusetts agreed to purchase 1087MW of the project’s capacity in a September multi-state solicitation, with Rhode Island picking up another 200MW for the first phase of the array.
Nantucket Town Select Board Chair Brooke Mohr said in a release: “Our community should not bear the consequences of their poor planning.”
The appeal alleges that BOEM violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The former requires federal agencies to evaluate and find ways to avoid, minimise, or mitigate harm to historic properties before approving projects that may impact them.
The town also argues that BOEM failed to fully consider the impact of other harm from wind farms, and pointed to the blade failure at the CIP-Iberdrola joint venture Vineyard Wind over the summer.
