Salazar approves Cape wind farm


Wind turbines supplied by Siemens Energy.
By Patrick Cassidy
STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2010
BOSTON - US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm today, a move proponents herald as a giant leap forward and opponents decry as a dangerous misstep.

His approval is the culmination of nearly a decade of review by local, state and federal agencies of the plan to build 130 wind turbines on Horseshoe Shoal in the Sound.

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"This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast," Salazar said standing next to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a wind farm supporter.

Salazar said he was approving the Cape Wind project “with modifications that will protect the historical, cultural and environmental resources” of Nantucket Sound. Among these were the reduction of the project from 170 turbines to 130 turbines - a requirement the developer has already made to reduce the visual impact of the turbines - and to do additional marine archeological surveys.