The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound has filed a federal lawsuit against the Coast Guard, the latest in a series of suits against federal officials and agencies by groups opposing the planned Cape Wind offshore wind farm at Horseshoe Shoal that will include 130 windmills within sight of the shore. According to the alliance, the suit was filed because the Coast Guard has failed to respond to repeated requests for public records as required under the Freedom of Information Act. The alliance claims the Coast Guard has ignored their request for more than two years, the only federal agency to fail to respond. Their request dates back to March 29, 2011.
The FOIA request seeks communications between the Coast Guard and all parties, federal or state, responsible for authorizing the project, including consultants and elected officials, dating back to April 28, 2010, when the U.S. Interior Department approved the project.
Specifically, the alliance wants to determine if the Coast Guard, like the Federal Aviation Administration, was under political pressure to go easy on Cape Wind, referring to reported accusations that the Obama administration exerted influence on the FAA to approve the project. Internal documents obtained indicate FAA employees said they felt political pressure to rule Cape Wind wouldn’t be a hazard to pilots, although they didn’t say who made them feel pressured. Read more….