Shipping lane protections could kill Mass. offshore wind farm

Shipping lane protections could kill Mass. offshore wind farm    Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has called on House members to support an amendment that would ban the construction of wind turbines within 1.5 nautical miles offshore.
   If this measure is passed, it could eliminate plans to construct the first U.S. offshore wind farm, according to a Sunday news report by the Washington Post.
   Cape Wind Associates hopes to build a 130-turbine wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.
   The Post said Young based his concerns off a British study, which concluded that the large turbines could obstruct vessel radar, making the sea routes between Cape Code and Nantucket Sound dangerous to ship traffic.
   Cape Wind called Young’s letter a “backdoor attempt to kill” the offshore wind farm. In a letter to the congressman, Cape Wind president James S. Gordon noted a U.S. Coast Guard’s assessment, which found that the wind farm would not be a risk to navigational safety and will not restrict large vessel traffic.