Filing new and additional facts, the town of Barnstable says it has found several substantial adverse effects to aviation operations in and near Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.
These adverse effects, according to the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, include a significant volume of aeronautical operations to change their regular course and/or altitude; changes to existing visual flight rule and instrument flight rule operations; limitations to the capacity and efficiency of HYA and other airports near the Cape Wind project; and interference with the operation of existing FAA radar facilities.
In May, the FAA issued a determination of no hazard for Cape Wind's proposed 130-turbine project in Nantucket Sound. However, Cape Wind was required to pay for an approximate $1.5 million radar modification.
The FAA also required Cape Wind to put $15 million in escrow for two years to pay for a digital radar system if the $1.5 million fix does not work.
‘The FAA has thoroughly studied Cape Wind for nine years, and we're confident their approval with be upheld,’ says Mark Rodgers, communications director for Cape Wind. ‘The simple truth is any pilot flying below 500 feet over Nantucket Sound is endangering himself, with or without a wind farm.’
SOURCES: Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, Cape Wind Â
