Earlier this month, Collin O'Mara, Delaware natural resources secretary, wrote a letter to EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin, citing a 1990 law requiring the EPA to delegate air quality reviews to state agencies if the projects are within 25 miles of the coast.
Earlier this month, Collin O'Mara, Delaware natural resources secretary, wrote a letter to EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin, citing a 1990 law requiring the EPA to delegate air quality reviews to state agencies if the projects are within 25 miles of the coast.
One potential delay to the NRG Bluewater Wind project might be averted now that Delaware has gained jurisdiction over a permitting matter.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been conducting a review of Bluewater's proposal to build a weather tower in the area off the Delaware coast where it would build its wind farm. The tower, which would measure wind speeds and bird-migration patterns, must gather data for a year before Bluewater can install its turbines.
The EPA had requested data about air emissions from the vessels that Bluewater would use to build the tower. But because Bluewater was unsure of which vessel it would be able to retain, it needed to gather data from multiple ships.
The holdup threatened to force …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]One potential delay to the NRG Bluewater Wind project might be averted now that Delaware has gained jurisdiction over a permitting matter.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been conducting a review of Bluewater's proposal to build a weather tower in the area off the Delaware coast where it would build its wind farm. The tower, which would measure wind speeds and bird-migration patterns, must gather data for a year before Bluewater can install its turbines.
The EPA had requested data about air emissions from the vessels that Bluewater would use to build the tower. But because Bluewater was unsure of which vessel it would be able to retain, it needed to gather data from multiple ships.
The holdup threatened to force Bluewater to wait until next year to build the weather tower, which could delay the entire project.
But earlier this month, Collin O'Mara, Delaware natural resources secretary, wrote a letter to EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin, citing a 1990 law requiring the EPA to delegate air quality reviews to state agencies if the projects are within 25 miles of the coast.
On Wednesday, O'Mara's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control received word that the EPA had granted his agency that authority.
"The goal is to do everything in our power to make sure Bluewater has the permits it needs to go to construction by the fall," O'Mara said, referring to the weather tower.