Judge Issues Mixed Ruling on Cape Wind Project

A federal judge on Friday rejected several arguments brought by opponents of a proposed first-in-the-nation offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound but ordered the government to review claims that the Cape Wind project could pose risks to migratory birds and the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The judge in his ruling didn’t suggest the project would cause harm to the whales or protected migratory birds such as the piping plover and roseate tern.  But he did say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by not making an independent evaluation of plans for a seasonal shutdown of the wind farm’s rotors to avoid possible collisions with the birds.

Judge Issues Mixed Ruling on Cape Wind Project