BOSTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has opened a public comment period on air quality operating permits for two offshore wind farm projects off Cape Cod.
New England Wind 1 and 2 would have a total capacity of up to 2,600 megawatts of clean, renewable energy that the bureau estimates could power more than 900,000 homes each year, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The bureau announced the approval of the two wind farm projects in July.
The New England Wind 1 and 2 projects are situated approximately 20 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and about 24 nautical miles southwest of Nantucket.
The construction and operations plan includes up to 129 wind turbine generators, with up to five offshore export cables transmitting electricity to onshore transmission systems in the Town of Barnstable and Bristol County, according to the bureau.
In August, debris from a giant Vineyard Wind turbine blade that broke apart in the water off Nantucket in July washed up on beaches on Cape Cod.
A Vineyard Wind turbine nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower experienced significant blade damage on the evening of July 13, according to developers of the offshore wind project.
The public comment period for the draft permits for New England Wind 1 and 2 will remain open until Jan. 16, the same day when the EPA will hold a virtual public hearing via Zoom.gov.
All public comments must be received by that date. People can submit comments on the draft permits at this website.
The public hearing for the Clean Air Act OCS operating permits will be held at 6 p.m. on Jan. 16. A registration link can be found here. Anyone needing a reasonable accommodation or who has translation/interpretation needs is asked to contact Patrick Collins at collins.patrick@epa.gov or 617-918-1196 no later than Jan. 2.
EPA will consider “all significant comments and make appropriate changes before issuing these permits final,” officials said in a statement on Monday.
More information regarding the public hearing and registration instructions are included on EPA’s website.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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