FAA rules Cape Wind not a threat

Cape Wind cleared its last bureaucratic hurdle Wednesday when the Federal Aviation Administration released its finding that the project poses no hazard to planes.

The finding came after a court-mandated re-evaluation of possible safety hazards the 130-turbine project poses to planes and a GOP inquiry into whether the FAA's initial approval in 2010 was the result of political pressure from the left.

"(The FAA's) aeronautical study revealed that the structure does not exceed obstruction standards and would not be a hazard to air navigation," the latest FAA determination reads.

The project presents no hazard as long as Cape Wind marks and lights obstructions to planes, files required construction forms with the FAA and builds no turbines exceeding 440 feet above ground level, the decision reads.

"It's a big step forward for Cape Wind from a regulatory standpoint," said Mark Rodgers, a Cape Wind spokesman, in an interview Wednesday evening. In light of the FAA study, Cape Wind plans to begin construction next year, Rodgers said.

But the study's release left some Cape Wind opponents frustrated and more convinced than ever that politics swayed the FAA's finding.

"It's outrageous in light of a court overturning their previous (finding) and a congressional inquiry," said Audra Parker, president of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a group that lobbies against the project and filed several lawsuits in efforts to stop construction. "The FAA is willing to sacrifice public safety."

The FAA approved the project in May 2010. But after the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and the town of Barnstable appealed the decision, the United States Court of Appeals sent the project back to the agency in October 2011 for more review. In its decision, the court found the FAA had overlooked its own rules in making its determination.

U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and John Mica, R-Fla., last month sent a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta, seeking a response to a request for more documents and to series of questions about whether politics were a factor in the decision.

"A politically based determination of the Cape Wind project by the FAA is an unacceptable use of federal authority, contravenes FAA's statutory mandate and raises significant safety concerns for aviation in Nantucket Sound," they wrote.

Issa and Mica wrote the letter after emails and other documents uncovered in a public records request from the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound referred to the political nature of the project - including one slide in which an official wrote "it would be very difficult politically to refuse approval of this project."

There is no direct evidence that FAA officials were told to approve Cape Wind. Neither Issa nor Mica could be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

In Rodger's view, the FAA finding in favor of Cape Wind is evidence the agency ignored political pressures facing its review of the project.

"I think between the letters and other documents on file of project opponents having lobbied the FAA over the years that there's been a considerable amount of pressure on the FAA to oppose Cape Wind," Rodgers said, adding that he believes the FAA conducted a "by the books" review.

Parker said the FAA made no changes in its Cape Wind study methods since the court overturned the ruling last year and believes a judge would find against the agency if challenged in court.

"We will challenge this," Parker said. "We won once. There's no reason to believe we won't win again."

Charles McLaughlin, an attorney for the town of Barnstable, said on Wednesday an extensive legal analysis of the FAA's finding is necessary before considering a court challenge. Upon first glance, McLaughlin said, it looks like an appeal could prove successful.

"It appears that they may have failed again to address the issues (raised by) the Court of Appeals," he said.

Possible appeals of the decision do not rattle Rodgers, who pointed out that courts have ruled in favor of Cape Wind 15 times, and the four remaining lawsuits against the project have been consolidated into one judicial review.

"The determination of no hazard that was issued today was very thorough and complete," Rodgers said Wednesday. "We feel confident that it's going to withstand any legal challenge."